Hitting the Books
by PhantomWriter92
Summary: Danny and sam are teachers, and they've never met. What happens when Vlad gets involved and lives are at stake? Worse yet Danny has a girlfriend! Will Sam be able to get to his heart? Better summary inside and rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again! Well this is my 4th story! It's called Hitting the Books. I hope you like it, the inspiration came from my English and Social Studies teacher. I thought they made such a cute couple! But anyway the summary is below the disclaimer, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or anything else famous.**

**Summary: Danny and Sam are 23, they haven't met but Danny still knows Tuck and he still has his ghost powers( I wouldn't take that away from him). They end up teaching at the same school and Sam is still unsure of whether or not she likes him. Plus he's supposed to propose to his girlfriend, can they get together, or is it just another fairy tale ending.**

Hitting the books

The principle at Callisto Middle School yawned quietly and rubbed her temples. The clock next to her read 4:00pm. She'd been in her office since 7 that morning, interviewing teachers. The loss of 21 teachers meant they needed replacements. She had seen 18 teachers so far 2 per hour, only4 more to go. Her nameplate shined in the office. Principle Enito sat behind her desk waiting for the next teacher to come.

The "Team" system they used proved to be a blessing in disguise. It kept everything orderlya series of 4 homerooms was a team, the 4 teachers each taught a certain subject. 4 teams per grade meant 400 kids. Kids were identified by their teams, it made schedules and field trips easier, and the kids liked it too, now it was helping tremendously.

She had chosen a set of teachers for every grade except for one eighth grade team that needed a social studies andan English teacher. She also needed a replacement Italian teacher, one that could actually speak Italian.

The door opened slightly and a graceful figure walked in. She sat down and smiled nervously.

"Hi I'm Samantha Manson, I'm here to apply as an eighth grade English teacher." She said while getting her resume out of a petite black briefcase. After handing it to the principle she traced her fingers on her black skirt. The principle smiled and read it over.

"I was hoping you'd come Ms. Manson. Though you are only 23 you are very well recommended by many students and many elite teachers. " She said looking at Sam and fingering the resume. Sam smiled and blushed. She fingered her grey turtleneck, it was unusually cold for August and playing with a loose string helped take an edge off her nervousness.

"The kids were great and I learned a lot from them, probably more than they did from me." She said.

The principle smiled and looked at Sam before folding her hands.

"Very true words Ms. Manson. You just finished your training and you already know what your doing." She said.

"Thank you." Sam replied.

"Well this is a pretty standard interview. You already know the hours and what you have to do but the little details will be finished up later on. You can be expecting a call from us." She said and winked at Sam.

Sam smiled and sighed, she was going to get a job! And on her first interview! She left the office much happier than she came in.

Danny Fenton rolled over in bed, he groaned, sunlight hitting his sleepy baby blue eyes. He put a hand to his forehead and looked at his clock. The irritating red lights told him it was 4:30pm. He yawned, he had been up until 6 am earlier trying to get groceries, get his resume put together and pick up stuff for Tucker. That wouldn't take that long but the party at one of his college friends' house was too tempting so of course he went. That caused him to wake up 15 minutes before his interview at Callisto Middle School.

In the middle of yawning he realized that he had to be at the school in 15 minutes.

"Aaaah, crap, I need to get ready." He yelled and starting running around.

He threw on some clothes, stuffed his resume in a briefcase which he slung over his shoulders, brushed his teeth and left. He nearly ran into a couple of people on his way to the bus stop, lucky him, his car was in the shop. He crashed into at least 4 people leaving shouts of "Hey buddy watch it!", "Hey jerk look where your going!" and "Well young people get ruder by the minute!" behind him. "Sorry" was all he could shout back into the crowd of people he nearly ran over.

He got onto the bus and took a seat, sighing, at least he had at least caught a bus. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes and taking in the musty metallic scent of the bus' interior. The air above the bus must have smelt better than this, probably a clear thin smell. He would normally have flown, but he was already on the bus when he realized this, and he didn't feel like wasting the money he'd paid for the fair. The bus slowed to a stop on the next stop. Danny cracked an eye open and saw the 4 people he ran into come on the bus.

He groaned and put a hand up to his forehead. Maybe it was an omen, or a sign, but whatever it was gave him the impression it was going to be a bad day.

"Thank you Ms. Williams we greatly appreciate someone of your stature in the foreign language studies to come to our school." The principle said.

"My pleasure, I love working with kids." She replied. Her soft brown eyes smiled as she quietly left the room.

"Ok, that takes care of one English teacher and a foreign language teacher. I need a social studies." The principle said as she shuffled the mass of papers on her desk around. "Up next we should have ...Mr. Fenton, oh no." She said as she looked at the paper.

10 minutes after he was supposed to be there Danny walked in.

"Welcome Mr. Fenton." She said faking a smile.

"Sorry I'm late, I got held up." He said his nerves shaking.

"Yes well let's hope you don't make a habit of being late." She said. It was obvious that she didn't like him. She looked at the 23 year old in front of her. Tall, broad, handsome, not to mention unorganized and probably irresponsible. His jet black hair made his blue eyes stand out and his smile could have killed.

"So you are applying for what again?" She asked.

"Social Studies teacher." He said. He thought about that for a second. 9 years ago he had scratched teacher off his "what I want to be when I grow up list". He smiled at the thought of it. His grades hadn't been good enough for his astronaut dreams, and during college he realized he liked working and helping kids. His liking for history had surprised even him, he didn't know it was intersting until a couple of years ago.

The principle took notice. "Mr. Fenton is this amusing to you?" She asked perturbed.

He looked up from his thoughts "No. I was just thinking." He said. She folded her hands and stared straight at him.

"Look Mr. FentonI have heard numerous stories about your……unorthodox teaching methods. We've had teachers saying they've left you in charge and you were joking around with the kids. You were noisy and acted like a student instead of a teacher. We don't tolerate that here." She told him.

"Yes, I know. But the kids learned and we had fun, it may have been noisy but at least stuck to the curriculum." He defended.

"Yes well, we want our students to get full teaching not some interrupted by noise." She said a little sterner.

"But if they can have fun, then why can't they?" He countered.

"Because learning comes first." She said. A knock came at the door, startling both of them.

"If you excuse me I have another teacher to see." She said. Danny looked at her got up and left. As he walked away from the office he strut became a slow walk.

"Fenton! What do you get yourself into? You could have had that, the only thing you had to do is comply!" He thought as he mentally kicked himself. Deep inside he knew he could never comply with rules set by his superiors, it was in his moral being to be a rebel. A couple of female 7th grade teachers looked at him as he passed by.

"I hope he starts working here!" He heard one of them whisper. He smiled a little bit and decided there was another school out there for him.

**Later that Night**

The principle locked up her office and left the room. She had chosen all of the teachers and by the eighth of September she would have her school ready, teachers and all. The list of teachers rattled around in her bag, the names carefully written down. Danny Fenton was not one of them.

**Ok I know what your thinking, if he's not picked how can there be a story? Well I promise you they will end up teaching. So please stick around for the next chapter and review! The next chapter will be out maximum of 2 days after this one appears. No Flames please.**


	2. A Problem

**Ok here's the second chapter just as I promised! I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom**

**1 month later, the beginning of school**

Everything was perfect. Almost all of the teachers were here and it was only 7:00am. She had gone around to check the portables to see if the teachers had settled in. The outdoor box like classrooms took a little while to get used to.

Mrs. Enito was waiting in her office for a phone call from the new Social Studies teacher. It was almost 7: 45 and in her school teachers were expected to be ready and on time for their classes. The phone rang and she smiled in relief when she heard it Her happy expression turned to sadness as the conversation wore on.

"I understand officer, yes I know, I just didn't expect the call this late. I know it is very hard to track down these people. No I didn't know that, he never said anything about it on his resume. Yes I did a full background check, oh he had an assumed name. Thank you, for calling though, goodbye." She said. She checked the clock it was almost eight.

She searched around the office for any teacher who could fill in that day. Then it hit her though she may not like him Danny Fenton was a certified teacher.

Danny was currently sleeping in. He was flat on his bed his arms lying underneath his pillows sleeping comfortably. His covers were warm and he wouldn't leave his bed for anything. He was dreaming when a blaring ring ripped through his dream and his comfortable sleep.

"What? I'm up!" He screamed. When he realized it was just his phone he groaned and put his face in his pillow. He stuck his hand out and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?" Came his muffled voice.

"Mr. Fenton? I was wondering if you would like to come work here." She said hopefulness written in her tone. The situation was explained and as soon as she said "bye" he was dressed.

He slung his briefcase strap over his shoulder and grabbed the waffle that had just popped out of the toaster. Tucker walked in as Danny tended to a burnt hand.

"Dude it's not even 9 yet and your conscious, why?" He asked as he put his to-go breakfast on the table.

"I got the job, they just called." He said smiling.

"You got it? That's awesome! Hey be careful though, those kids are smart they could probably figure out your ghost powers quicker than you did." He said.

"I know. I mean that school isn't Casper High so it's not haunted. If the whole city of Amity Park didn't figure out, I don't think a bunch of eighth graders will." He said taking a bite of his syrup covered waffle.

"What about your enemies?" Tuck asked.

"They wouldn't hurt little kids." He replied. Tucker gave him a be-real look.

"Ok Plasmius might. But he's in Wisconsin and he hasn't fought me in forever." He said finishing off the waffle.

"Forever? Try 2 weeks ago." Tuck said.

Danny grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Tuck I wouldn't let anything happen to those kids." He said backing up to the door. Being one of the most clumsiest people on Earth his little backward trick didn't work and fell out of the apartment into the hallway. He picked himself up and ran out of the building. The too many spectators crawling the streets like ants forced him to take the bus again.

Sam was much more settled in. She walked outside to see these huge box like structures outside in the back of the school. They had numbers on them so her job was to try to find portable 124. She checked her watch, it read 7:15. She searched the whole place and when she finally found it she regretted that she had worn high heels. When she walked up the steps she realized she had gone in a huge circle her portable was right next to the school. She growled as she walked into her classroom.

She stepped into the her classroom, it wasn't bad. A normal size, enough desks, it looked good. The only thing she'd have to worry about is if she got a noisy neighbor. The walls that separated the 2 classrooms in the portable were kind of thin. She yawned, slightly tired and took out the getting to know you papers she had prepared for her students. Once everything was settled she sat down and started reading.

The time flew by as 8:05 rolled around. The last few kids trickled in through the door as she took out the attendance sheets. Judging by the last names she concluded that her homeroom was the first alphabetically. The kids looked nice enough and everyone was there except for 2 that had moved. Schedules were passed out and the pledge was said. Suddenly a knock came at her door, it was a student from next door.

"Um excuse me, but we don't have a teacher. We need our schedules." The boy said. His long sand colored hair almost covered his bright green eyes.

"Ok, I'll go up to the office and see what's up." She said, she sent him back to his classroom. Another teacher walked in as she was about to leave.

"Are you the homeroom teacher for 125." She asked hopeful that she was. The young lady looked at her. Her medium length light brown fell onto her shoulders curling at the bottom and her chocolate eyes showed Italian descent.

"No, I'm the Italian teacher that's going to use your room during electives. Portables normally have Health and Foreign Language teachers share their classroom in their free periods, didn't anyone tell you?" She asked.

"No and the homeroom teacher for that homeroom isn't here, so they don't have your schedules. Can you watch the kids?" Sam asked.

She smiled softly. "Sure." She said.

"Thank you." She told her gratefulness apparent in her voice. She ran into the school, checking her watch for the time.

Danny had just walked in, grabbed the schedules and tried to push them into his briefcase when he walked into another teacher.

"Sorry. I was running late and I didn't see you." He said, trying to get himself up.

"Yeah that's great. Next time be more careful, I need to get to the office." She said pulling herself up. She didn't even acknowledge who he was and rushed forward.

"Yeah, ok." He shouted as she rushed on. He frowned as he walked on, he didn't like her very much.

Sam got to the office out of breath.

"I need the schedules for uh……125." She said trying to catch her breath. The lady behind the office counter stared at her through glasses that rested on the bottom of her nose.

"We don't have them." She said.

"Why?" She asked a little annoyed.

"Because he just signed in." She said as if it were obvious.

"When? Like 4 minutes ago or 4 seconds ago?" Sam asked.

"I'd say about 3 minutes ago. You had to have seen him. He's about 6'1, jet black hair, bright crystal blue eyes, he has a briefcase slung over his shoulder." She told her.

"A briefcase?" Sam asked. Then she remembered the guy she ran into. He was the other teacher she would spend the whole day with. She groaned as she realized how horrible her luck was.

"What's his name?" She asked more curious than anything else.

"Daniel Fenton, hey that's right, you 2 share a portable. Well let's hope you get along." She said as she went back to her work. Sam slowly walked back to her portable hoping that maybe there was a shred of chance her day would get better.

By the time she got back to her portable her first class was about to start. At this point she didn't really care if his homeroom got their schedules because it would be his fault. She knew that was the wrong way to think but it was probably her grumpy morning side talking. She'd get over it.

Half of her class had filled in and she smiled when she realized a student she helped student teach was in her class.

"Hey Emily, how are you doing? I haven't seen you in a while." Sam said as she walked over.

Emily Winters looked at Sam and smiled. "You're my English teacher this year? Awesome! I'm doing good. How about you?" She asked.

"Good." Sam replied. "Hey Emily you're supposed to be turning 14, shouldn't you be in high school?" Sam asked.

Emily looked at her with an annoyed look on her face at the thought of the topic.

"My birthday is in December and that means I'm still 13 so I have to be here. It's the same thing with a lot of kids in this class. James and Richie have November birthdays and Allison's is in October." She said naming off a few kids.

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Yeah there are some more kids but Ms. Manson, you need to start class." She said. Sam looked around startled. The class had already filled in and was waiting for her to start.

"Oh." She said and walked up to the front of the room. "Hello everyone, I'm Ms. Manson and I'm your English teacher this year. I have an outline of what we will be doing this year, and what you can expect my grading to be. Now I know the last thing you want to do is work so how about we get to know each other. We'll ask each other questions, ones that are appropriate for class. You can even ask me one or two." She said and smiled.

A few of the boys in the class smiled when she did. Emily rolled her eyes, she knew that they already had a crush on their teacher.

Danny's first class came in and sat down waiting for him to start. He stood up and straightened his tie and scanned the sea of kids.

"Ok, well I'm sure everyone here is so insanely happy to be here. I have the pleasure of being your new social studies teacher. First off my name is Mr. Fenton." He said.

A kid in the back raised his hand. Danny called on him. "Hey weren't we supposed to have a Mr. Barton for Social Studies this year?" He asked.

"I honestly have no clue. Your principle called me up at 7:30 this morning saying she needed a teacher so I'm just as lost as you are. But nonetheless I can still tell you what you will learn." He said.

"You will learn about the American Revolution and all of that fun stuff that goes with it. Is there anyone here who is even mildly interested in it?" He asked. No one raised their hands. "Ok well to start I am not your ordinary teacher. I have done so many insane projects and activities in my student teaching that I promise you, you will not get bored." He told them.

They were told of some of the projects and by the time class ended the kids actually liked to go to class. A lot of girls also left giggling at how cute their new teacher was. By the time he had seen his 4 classes he was so happy that lunch was next and that the kids would be in their electives.

He had just left his classroom when he saw Sam leaving too. She noticed his presence and turned around to stare into his eyes.

"Hey I think I ran into you earlier, I'm sorry." He said.

"Uhh yeah, it's ok." She said nervously. She smiled and her heart rate sped up.

"Good. I'll see you around." He said and walked off to the cafeteria. Sam just stood there. The same Italian teacher was just coming out of Sam's portable, she had hung out there during her free period. She stood next to Sam staring at him too.

"Cute. That's Fenton right? I'll tell you one thing, did you see his eyes?" She said. Sam looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah he is kind of cute." She said.

"Oh hey, I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Holly Willaims the new Italian teacher, and you're……" She trailed off.

"Oh I'm Samantha, well Sam Manson." She said snapping out of her trance. Holly laughed as Sam tried to awaken herself.

"Tell you what, I have my first class after this next lunch, so what do you say we go into the cafeteria grab something to eat and meet some fellow teachers." She said.

"Ok, that sounds good." Sam said. They walked into the cafeteria getting better acquainted.

Sam went through the lunch line and bought a salad while Holly bought popcorn chicken.

"The only thing that tastes mildly good." She said as they walked into the teacher's lounge. Sam took a seat next to Danny. They ignored each other, and Holly couldn't take it.

"Hey, it's Danny right?" She said looking at him. He blinked, startled by her outward ness for a second and replied.

"Yes, I'm Danny Fenton. I'm apparently the new Social Studies for the Panthers." He told her. He took off his watch and put it on his briefcase on the floor, he relaxed a little with his watch off, it was kind of a habit.

"Yeah I heard about that. There was supposed t be a Mr. Bartley or something but I think he got arrested. Oh I'm the team leader for he Panthers, I'm Mr. Mahoy the science teacher." He said. Mr. Mahoy had to be in his late 20's. His light blondish brown hair was about the same length as Danny's, he had deep almost pine green eyes and a cleft chin.

"And I'm the math teacher Mrs. Grayson." A lady said. She had shoulder length brown hair, and green eyes, she also was young.

"And I'm Holly, I'm not on a team, but I am going to be in the Panther's and Twister's portables." She said. "I'm a foreign language teacher."

Sam laughed slightly. It's hard to teach some of these kids proper English teaching them another language must be difficult.

"Yeah, some kid came up to me today and said, "Hey ain't you my teacher this year." An African American lady said from the corner. "Oh I'm Ms. Snow, I'm the Thunderbirds English teacher. And that is Ms. Antonio the Extreme Team English teacher." She said. A dark haired blonde gave a polite wave.

"Holly, you don't have to introduce yourself, we already know you." Mr. Mahoy said.

"Yes but we have a lot of new teacher's this year." She said.

" I don't mean to interrupt but exactly how many teachers will be here?" Danny asked.

"Depends on the teacher, some eat in their room, but most of the time maybe 14 or 15, most of the elective teachers with assigned rooms eat in their rooms." Mr. Mahoy said.

"Then your schedule also depends on the kids, so when our kids have lunch with yours then we have lunch, you have lunch with us and the Extreme Team all week. Then you might have it with 7th grade teachers, it varies a lot." Mrs. Grayson explained.

The first year teachers nodded their heads as an oh-I-get-it-now gesture. Sam looked at Danny absentmindedly. " Wow he must work out." She thought. She awoke from her thoughts as the bell rang. Danny walked out talking to Mr. Mahoy, totally forgetting about his watch. Holly came over to Sam who was still sitting in her chair.

" You are lovesick, you know that? You have a bad crush." She told her smiling. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I felt out of place, I didn't know who half those teachers were. This is your first year teaching, your only 25, how do you know them?" Sam asked.

"I went to college with almost all of them, and I have done so many Spanish, Italian, German, and every other language programs at so many schools, you bond with the teachers." She said. "Now how about I tell you everything I know about the teachers and help you with get closer to your crush. I still have the 20 minutes of reading before my class" She said.

Sam thought it over. "Alright I could deal with that." She said. They were just about to walk out when Danny and Mr. Mahoy came back in.

"I have to find that watch, my girlfriend gave it to me. It's really special, we've been dating for a while now." Danny said.

"Really? I've been married 5 years now." Mr. Mahoy replied as Danny found the watch and scooped it up.

"Bye Sam, bye Holly." He said as he left again.

Sam sat there an emotionless look on her face.

"That could be a problem." Holly said.

**Ok that's it for now! I hope you liked it! If you do review me, please! But no flames they really discourage me.**


	3. A sorrowful secret

**Hello** **again! Here is the third chapter! I hope you all enjoy this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, I wish I did because then I could make episodes for myself.**

**ATTENTION: If your are a Danny Phantom fan you will be sad to hear he is being canceled! After 53 episodes he is no more! I have an address so you can send letters to it, if you want it tell me if not then ok. Just trying to tell you we can save Danny! If you're a writer tell people in your fics, if you have a fanart account tell that community, if you have forum then spread the word, the more people that know the better!**

Sam looked up into Holly's eyes. "Ok now what do I do? He has a girlfriend." She said depressed.

"Well talk to him get to know him, be friends with him. It wouldn't hurt and they might break up." She told her.

Sam gave her a get-real-look.

"What? It could happen and it doesn't hurt to be friends with him. I have a boyfriend and I'm still friends with Mr. Fenton." She said helping Sam up.

"How? He doesn't even know I exist?" She asked a frown permanently sealed on her face.

Holly thought for a second, then her face lit up. "I have an idea. I teach in your portable and there is always a health class in the room next to yours. Now teachers are allowed to stay in the room. But I've known Jerry since I was in high school so I'm sure he wouldn't mind kicking him out for me." She said with a smile. Sam looked at her in confusion.

"Jerry?" She asked. Holly smiled and nodded.

"Yeah Jerry Havallis. He's the head coach for this school, he's also one of the coolest teachers." She said. "Come on I bet we can grab Jerry before his and my class begins." She told her grabbing her arm and leading her out the door. A broad shouldered dark haired man was walking into the portable when Holly called out to him.

"Jerry!" She screamed. He turned around and smiled.

"Hey Holly! What are you doing here? I thought only real teachers had to come today." He said smiling. You could tell there was Italian in him. He had dark skin and a Sylvester Stallone type face. She laughed and ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"Then what are you doing here? You're a gym teacher!" She laughed as they pulled away.

"Hey, I do two jobs here, health and gym." He said with. "And who are you?" He asked looking at Sam.

"Oh this is Sam, she's the teacher I'm co-rooming with this year. And we need your help." She said. He looked at Holly and laughed.

"That's why I'm here. To help you when you get caught in your situations." He said. "But what do you need?"

"Ok you know who your co-rooming with right?" She asked.

"Yeah Fenton, the new kid. I like him he's really fun loving and he's our age too." He said.

"We need you to kick him out so we can get these 2 together." She said. "I told Sam to bring him down to Sarah's room where all the other teachers hang out while we work." She said. He pondered this while they waited.

"Why take her to Sarah's main room, take them to the room over, there's privacy there." He told her.

"That's a great idea, thanks, will you do it?" She asked. She looked at his emotionless light brown eyes.

"Yeah sure why not. The kid doesn't know the rules anyway." He said. Holly screamed a little and hugged him again.

"Thanks Jer, you don't know what this means to me." She said. "I'll see you 2 periods from now." She said as she and Sam went into their room.

Coach Havallis went into his classroom to see Danny sitting in the desk in the back.

"Hey Danny. Is it ok if you leave, I mean I have a class and I'm use to teaching this sort of thing alone, ya know?" He said putting his papers on the front desk.

Danny looked up in confusion.

"Uh, why, I mean what are you teaching that you usually teach without an audience?" He asked. Coach Havallis smiled, one thing he loved seeing is the new teacher's reactions to the health curriculum.

"Pregnancy, how girls become pregnant and STD's." He said. Danny's face went white for a second and then he blushed a little.

"Oh, sure I'll get out." He said quickly and packed things up. He walked out of his room just as Sam walked out of hers and almost crashed into her.

"Sorry." He said. He looked at her. "Do you know where your going, because I just kicked out of my room." He told her. She smiled..

"Yeah there's an extra room near the foods room. I'll show you." She said. They walked a little faster and went through the cafeteria, took a right into the foods room. A class was in session so they went to the room next to it. Sam opened it with permission given to her by the foods teacher Sarah Bockner.

It was a regular sized room, it could've held around 30 students if any used it. It was a personal and unofficial and teacher's lounge. Sam sat down and opened her notebook. She was a writer, she couldn't help it. She had just finished her first book and a publisher in New York was looking it over.

Not one for silence Danny broke it.

"So do you like your classes?" he asked. She nodded.

"I like all of them but I have a feeling my period 6 is going to give me trouble." She said.

"Same with me, only they're my period 7." He said. They started talking and realized they had a lot in common.

"I swear, all I hear is techno, and rap these days." Sam pointed out. "What happened to all of our bands from like 2006?" She asked him.

He smiled and slid an old pencil across the table. "I don't know, but a lot of the kids in my- I mean _our_ classes listen to the old stuff a lot too, like GreenDay and My Chemical Romance. The American Idols too, Clay and Kelly. It's good to hear real music, you know?" He said.

Sam leaned back in her chair and brushed a stray raven lock from her face.

"God I haven't heard GreenDay on the radio in a long time." Sam said. " I still have all of their CDs." She said smiling at the thought.

"Yeah, now there are Ipods that get smaller every 10 minutes. Not that I'm complaining, I have 2,000 songs on mine." He said.

"Yeah I have 1500 myself." She told him as she reached for her out-dated nano.

A song started playing and Danny smiled.

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams." He said. "That's an awesome song." He told her as he took his out of his sling around briefcase.

He fingered it thoughtfully and stared at it. "You know it's unfair how we can bring these things in, but the kids can't, same way with a lot of stuff." He said.

"Oh please, the kids always bring them in, a lot of teachers never report them, because it's unfair." She said. "I never do."

Danny scoffed, still staring aimlessly at his Ipod. "A good teacher by _their _standards would." He said nodding in the direction of the principle's office. "That's why I never got a job at any school." His voice grew more serious with every word, as if he was letting the scorn of rejected applications become healed.

"I was always the unorthodox teacher. The one that was too risky, the one that wouldn't follow the curriculum." He said his tone growing fainter as if he was not sure of what to say next. "One no one wanted until everyone else was picked." He laughed, a small laugh of regret and sorrow. "I thought that ended once you left high school. I guess not." He said.

Sam looked at him, her eyes full of a longing. A longing to comfort him, to be there for him. She wanted to say something, but what? The bell rang, announcing the end of electives and period 1, when kids went back to homeroom. He left silently and Sam realized that behind his blue eyes was a deeper pain, brought on by a secret, that was almost unknown to the world.

**Ok that's the third chapter! Sorry it's so late, I swear everything on this earth collaborated together to stop me from finishing this. Stomach virus, damaged computer and 3 projects due in a row! But no worries, you will get the next chapter chapter.**


	4. Mystery Archives

**Hey ok here's the 4th chapter, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Toyota or Nickelodeon or any of the books Inkheart, Treasure Island, Hatchet, Ipod, or music or people mentioned. I do own the Mystery Archive's idea though.**

Sam felt bad the rest of the day. Poor Danny, what had happened to make him that angry inside. Go Sam she was the one who started the conversation. She had just finished locking up her classroom when Holly and some other teachers came up to her.

"You looked depressed, wanna go out tonight?" She asked. "It'll be just a girl's night out." She said.

"I don't really feel like-" She started to say.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun, and we can help you." She said. Sam looked around, why not?

"Alright." She said. They smiled and told her where to be and when. She drove to her apartment feeling a little better. At least she was going somewhere. She followed the directions and saw Holly in the parking lot.

"So where exactly are we?" Sam asked.

"It's a café', well a large café' where most of the teachers end up going on the first day. Especially if you can tell which classes are going to give you a lot of trouble. Their latte's will make you forget everything." She said. They walked in and saw the rest of the teachers sitting down.

The place was actually very pretty. There were couches with tables next to them and tables with chairs. Everything was a nice soft blue or purple, no pinks. And the lighting was soft and relaxing.

They sat down and things were a little awkward until there were introductions. Ms. Snow's first name was Lily, Mrs. Grayson's name was Mallory, Ms. Antonio's name was Kathryn.

"So Sam I hear you and Mr. Fenton share a portable." Mrs. Grayson said.

"Yeah." She replied.

"He is hot! You are so lucky. That boy is so good looking!" Ms. Antonio said.

"Yes he is." Holly replied looking at the menu. "I get to use her room and his, I love being a UA teacher." She said

"Lucky, but aren't you and Tom still dating?" Ms. Snow said.

"Yeah, but I can look." She said. They all laughed at that. They all ordered their coffee and chatted a little.

"I'm just nervous. What if I lose my temper and yell, I don't want to be the mean teacher." She said.

"You have to be, but not all the time, every class is different. Some may act u more than others." Ms. Antonio said.

"Most classes after 4th lunch are a terror, they're all riled up from the sugar they got from lunch." Ms. Grayson said.

"You just got to relax around the kids, and Danny." Holly said.

"Relax? Ha that's funny. I'll try to be relaxed when I'm done making him feel bad." Sam said and put her head down on the table.

"What'd you do?" Ms. Snow asked.

"I was talking to him about how school used to be and how messed up the system is at times and then he got really sad and left. I felt horrible, he looked so depressed." She said and looked up at them.

"It's not your fault maybe something happened to him." Mrs. Grayson said.

"At least you were talking." Holly added. "I mean now he knows who your are and that you share a lot in common. Think of it as a positive." Watches started beeping and they checked the time.

"Ok well one of the consequences of being a teacher is coming home early so since right now it is 8 we should all be getting home." Ms. Antonio said. They gathered there coats and left with goodbyes and see you tomorrows. Sam walked out feeling a little better and a little more confident.

She found her black Toyota and drove home. Once there she was greeted by her German Shepard and her black cat.

"Hey midnight." She said stroking the cat's head. " Hey Jimmy ." She said rubbing the German Shepard's ears. She went to a large glass cage in the back. This was a huge tank 6 feet by feet, and it didn't take up much of the apartment. That was a perk of being rich, when you get an apartment it's a huge one. Inside he tank was a little light green garden snake around 2 feet long. He had found his way into one of the apartments upstairs, the landlord was going to kill it because this was a ritzy place and it didn't belong there. So Sam took it in. She fed it even though she was a vegetarian she realized the snake would have to eat.

She opened the cage and took him out. He was really cute, and he was tame because he had been a pet and somebody let him go. So when he was on his own he found a home in the apartment upstairs. It was the wrong home but in the end it got him here and he was fine with that. He wrapped himself on her arm and stayed there while she turned the TV on and watched it with Jimmy and Midnight.

He uncurled when she laid down and stayed on her side. She watched the Nanny and stroked Jimmy's head who was laying on the couch with her.

"I have feeling I'm in for a real ride this year." She said. He looked at her and cocked his head to the side. Midnight gave a meow in agreement.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do about my Danny problem." She said. Midnight meowed as if to say "ignore him." There was a small bark from Jimmy which meant "go for it." Her snake just flicked his tongue out in a do-I-look-care gesture. She smiled at them.

"Thanks for the advice." She said and put her snake back. She washed her hands and got dressed into her pajamas.

Danny's night went differently. He went straight home after picking up his sister, doing a small errand, then bringing her back home. He found Tucker already there on the computer.

"Hey Tuck." He said taking the briefcase off of his shoulders.

"Hey. So how was the first day." He asked.

"Good yet depressing." He said taking out his notebook.

"Why, did you end up sharing a portable with an old bat?" Tuck asked.

Danny laughed. And sat himself on the counter. "No she's 25 and she's really pretty too." He told him.

"Then I don't see a problem here." Tuck said turning around in the chair.

"No we had a conversation and somewhere along the way, I got really dark and kind of depressed. She probably thinks it's her fault now." He said.

Tuck laughed. "Ha, that's funny, no you've always been crazy, she didn't do anything." He said and went back to his work.

"Very funny." Danny replied and walked into the living room. There was silence but Tucker fixed that.

"Did you get the ring?" He asked still typing away.

"Yup, one point five carats." He said taking the box out of his pocket.

"Is that a lot?" He asked.

"I guess, Jazz help me more than anything. She helped me find good clarity and something else." He said looking at it.

"Dude your lucky John was able to help you." Tuck said shutting down the computer.

"Yeah if he hadn't showed my artwork to that Nickelodeon animator I wouldn't be able to pay for this." He said opening the box again.

"Can you believe how much you got for designing a few logos, and doing one episode?" Tuck said as he put his laptop away. Danny shrugged.

"This was Nick's prodigy show, so I guess they were happy someone created something for it." He said.

"Did you consider their offer?" Tuck asked.

"Yeah. Helping to draw a hit cartoon would be fun, but I would rather teach. Besides that cartoon was stupid, it had no plot." Danny said. "If I could create my own one I would but it's too logical to fit in with their lineup.

"Yeah. So when are you proposing?" Tuck asked falling onto the other couch.

"Next Saturday." He told him. " It will be a year and a half we've been dating. But since tomorrow's Friday I'm taking her out."

"You sure she's the one? You haven't even told her about how you and Superman have more than just the black hair in common." Tuck asked flicking channels now.

"Nicole? Yeah she is. There's no one else like her. I'm going to tell her the day before." He said. "Well I'm going to get dressed for bed." He told him and walked out.

**The Next Day**

Sam walked into her classroom to find Holly already there reading.

"Hello. What time do you get here? I barely rolled myself out of bed to be here 5 minutes early." She asked. Holly looked up and smiled. " My pets decided to wake me up." She said.

"Oh. What kind of pets do you have?" Sam asked.

"2 dogs. A husky named Bruce a jack russel named Joker. 2 cats, 1 name Ivy 1 named Robin. If you can't tell Tom and I like Batman. And 5 chinchillas, Ryan, Gavin, Billie Joe, Clay, and Bubble." She said. Sam looked at her kind of funny.

"Ok, so you have Ryan, I'm guessing Ryan Cabrera's namesake, Gavin DeGraw's namesake, Billie Joe Armstrong's namesake, Clay Aiken's namesake, but bubble?" She asked a little confused.

"Yes well he's named after Michael Buble', but everyone who saw his name couldn't pronounce it right, so after a while everyone started calling him bubble. I only call him Buble' if he's in real trouble." She said.

"Oh, are they cute?" She asked.

"Yeah they're so adorable. I named Ryan after Ryan Cabrera because he has a strip of spiky fur that's a lighter color then the rest of his fur, like Ryan Cabrera's hair. Billie Joe because he's a dark black and his fur looks messy like Billie Joe's hair. Clay because for some reason he likes his singing, he lays out flat and relaxes when he sings. Gavin because I always liked Gavin DeGraw, and Bubble because he was always layed back like Michael Buble's singing. Hey any sign of Prince Charming?" She said

"No." Sam said and dropped her briefcase on an available chair.

"He'll show up. You can't miss those blue eyes." Holly said. "I know I didn't."

The first bell rang and a few kids trickled in. After the last one they were all present and accounted for. Because it was the second day, they didn't do anything except pass out books and hand in journals.

"Ok we're going to play a game." She said hoping they weren't too old for games. "I have some papers here and the person with the most signatures for each question in 3 minutes wins. You can only get one signature per person and that includes me." She said handing them out. "Ok, go!"

It was like you let a loaded gun shoot off. Since it was a contest it made it all the more fun. Sam had kids coming up to her like crazy.

"Do you like vinegar on your fries? Have you ever left the country? Do you play an instrument?" were some of the questions asked.

"Alright sit!" She said and they sat down.

"Ok we'll start over here, James right?" She said.

"Yup." He said.

"Okay who did you get for question one?" She asked.

"Ok for if you have ever left the country I got Stacy." He said.

"Stacy, where did you go?" Sam asked.

"I went to Italy to see my grandma." She said. Sam smiled. The rest of the day went like that and she was surprised at what she had learned. Who had a pet, who didn't and by the time class left everyone was talking with someone.

Danny's class was first class was crazy. He came in and sat down on his desk and rolled up his sleeves and looked around.

"Ok, here's a question. Does anyone know my name?" He asked. 9 students out of 24 raised their hands.

"Good. That was more than other classes. Now I'm no math teacher but 9 out of 24 isn't good odds. You know how I knew to ask that amazingly difficult question? Because yesterday when I was talking 7 of you were sleeping, with drool, 6 of you were talking, 2 were applying makeup and 9 actually paid a small amount of attention." He said.

"We are going to play a game. Not seven up, not hangman not even duck, duck, goose." He said dramatically. " We are going to get to know each other, the fun way no papers, no surveys. All you have to do is say something about yourself and if someone agrees or disagrees you raise your hand and discuss. You can be loud and I won't write you up, just don't go supersonic on me. Oh and don't throw things, I wouldn't enjoy that and neither would the boxes you call a classroom." He said. This got the kids and laughing and by the time the game started an argument had broken out.

"Punk music is so much more poetic than hip hop!" One girl shouted so loudly the glass jiggled.

"No it's not it's all death, and suicide!" The boy argued back.

"Mr. Fenton, what do you think?" A blonde haired girl sitting down asked.

"What do I think? I think we should all pick a hip hop and punk song we like and compare them, if you can write the _clean_ version, that would be awesome." He said grabbing a notebook and pencil.

"I thought you said you weren't going to write us up?" The pro punk girl asked.

"I'm not, I'm writing down my favorite GreenDay lyrics." He said. The class smiled and continued to write.

At the end of the day both Danny and Sam were happy to leave the chaos of day two. Sam was stuffing the papers into her briefcase when she went to open her door. No luck.

"Oh come on!" She said pulling on the handle so she was touching the ground.

"What are you doing?" A voice behind her said. She twirled around to see Danny standing there totally dumbfounded.

"I'm trying to get into my stupid car." She said still pulling. "My keys won't work." She said straining.

"Well that's because that's my car." He said and clicked the button. The door opened with a startled on the ground from the momentum of her pulling.

"Oh. You drive a big black Chevy Impala, and I drive a small black Camry and I got them confused." She said. "Wow, I must be more tired than I thought." She said and gathered her stuff. "Thank god it's Friday. I'm sorry about that." She said and started to walk away.

"I think it's your period 4, my period 5 class that drained you. I swear if Richard got any louder I'll go deaf." He said. He laughed and waved goodbye, that smile on his face.

Sam got to her car and leaned on the door. Only she would do that. She got in and decided that at 8 she would go out to her favorite place to eat and relax. She twiddled with the dial and found and oldie rock station. It was _Welcome to My Life_ on the way home and she was strumming her air guitar on red lights. Home was where she wanted to be for the next few hours. She fed everyone and relaxed by giving Jimmy a 2 hour walk.

When 8 struck she got dressed into a medium length dark blue skirt and a black shirt with a skull and cross bones. Some black feathered earrings some black mascara and off she was to _Mystery Archives Café' _.

"I'll be back in like 2 hours guys." she said and locked up. She got into her car again and this time she was greeted by Bon Jovi _Have A Nice Day._ She was singing to it in her car until she made it to the café' and when she got there, she was humming it in the parking lot.

She got into the café' to see their was a small wait. Ok, no big deal it was a small place with fast service. She put her ipod headphones in her ears and tapped her foot to _Dance Dance. _She was the next one in line and was pretty relaxed until the door opened.

Who else should walk in but Danny and his girlfriend. Danny was dressed in black pants and a cotton dress shirt under a black jacket, no to fancy but just right. His date was in her 20's also with dark brown hair and odd looking green eyes. She was very pretty, but Sam did not like her outfit. A short dress with some sort of fuzzy boa around her neck and big gold earrings on.

Danny was oblivious until they took a seat next to her because of the wait.

"Oh hey Sam, funny meeting you here." He said with a smile.

"Yeah." She replied.

"This is my girlfriend Nicole." He said. She smiled and waved. Sam had a bad feeling about her.

"So you must be the teacher Danny's working with this year." She said in a voice that just oozed fake-interest.

"Yeah." She said in just as fake of a tone.

"Oh I like those earrings." Nicole said. Right off the bat Sam could tell that was a lie. The way Nicole put her hand tightly on Danny and the smile she gave Sam clued her into that.

" I like yours too." She replied.

"Thank you but they'd be nothing without the boa my father got me." She said.

"Oh. What's it made out of." Sam said trying to make small talk while she prayed a table was ready.

"Chinchilla." She said with a smile. A genuine one this time, but it's because she was bragging.

A huge siren went off in Sam's head. That was the worst thing anyone could possibly say to her.. At first she remembered Holly's little fuzzballs of chinchillas from the earlier conversation and then she saw red.

"Oh it's real fur?" She asked.

"Of course." She replied. Sam was trying very hard to keep herself from blowing her stack and tackling this little snot headed, bratty, slime ball, human scum in front of her.

"I never really agreed with the whole fur thing. I always thought it was cruel." Danny said. Sam was surprised a bit that was what she was going to say. (Well she was going to put it a little differently but it was the same principal).

"There's a table ready." The waiter said to Sam. She smiled and bid them goodbye, Danny with a smile and Nicole through gritted teeth. She sat at her table and closed her eyes letting her temper simmer down a bit. The smell of the café' calmed her down.

_Mystery Archives _was a café' inside a bookstore basically. The walls were filled with bookcases of real books and tables were scattered in high places in low place there were small coffee tables near alcoves and there were ones up against the wall. There were 2 that were in 2 alcoves, they were platforms that came out of the wall.

The alcoves were padded and when you went up the spiraling stair case to the second floor there was a couch area and window room with it's own alcoves and bookshelves. It was serene and beautiful and relaxing the smell of books mingled with the coffee and desserts smell. The even better part was when you went upstairs the second floor was cut in half with a strong but elegant designed railing separating floor from air and letting you look down below. The 4 massive beams that held that up were painted brown and had ivy crawling up it.

You could pull down a book and read it or go get another one. And the food items were named for books _Inkheart Ice Cream, Hatchet Hamburgers_, etc. Sam ordered her coffee and food and listened to her music while reaching up to grab Treasure Island.

She sipped her coffee and read. Some day she should take Holly here, she'd love it. The coffee was delicious and the food was better. She was so caught up in Long John Silver's adventure she forgot about her love problem. That's what she liked about books, you can dive into them, escape the real world and relax. 2 hours later she stretched to wake herself up from the pirate world she had been in and paid for her dinner. She placed the book back with a soft touch and gathered her purse and coat and left.

The rejuvenation that book gave her made her feel so much better. There was a spring in her step again and she was smiling. The drive home was more relaxed and when she got in her car, and home was such a welcoming place to go. She slipped in and Jimmy and Midnight were on the couch waiting for her. She pet them and slipped into her room to change. Make up off and comfortable sleep wear on she sat on the couch with Midnight and Jimmy next to her. She stroked their heads and flicked channels again comfortable under the bat covered fleece blanket. She looked at the two of them for a second.

"Hey guys, what do you say we get a chinchilla?" She asked. Her dog looked at her with a smile and her cat gave her an are-you-crazy look. She laughed and gave them a hug. She fell asleep at one that morning her arms spread out over the pillow and her hair everywhere, but she was comfortable and that's all that mattered.

**Ok what did you think? Tell me, please review!**


	5. Crash

Hello! Here is the 5th chapter of Hitting the books, I hope you enjoy! I'm sorry for it being so late! My computer crashed and I lost the first 10 pages, and then I couldn't transfer the new stuff onto the new computer, but fear not, this will be awesome! All 22 pages of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Or any of the bands or people, or brands or music you hear.

_Sam was sitting in her classroom grading papers. The only noise was the small whimpers the wind made and the rustle of graded papers being stacked. She was busy going over the tests the students had taken a week ago. The pen scratched over the smooth paper and the rhythmic beating of the clock was barely audible to Sam. The door creaked open and Danny walked in his famous smile lighting up his face._

"_I wanted to talk with you." He said smoothly. Sam looked at him._

"_Sure but I'm grading now so don't be offended if I don't look up." She said._

"_Fair enough. Look the team is taking a field trip and we want to decide on a place." He said getting closer to her. She looked up strangely and got up to face him._

"_Ok I'll check some stuff out." She replied. There was silence and then he spoke._

"_I never knew you had such beautiful eyes." He said getting closer._

"_Yours were always beautiful." She said getting closer. The kissed and Sam looked at him. His lips were cold and wet and- _Sam woke up to find Jimmy's nose right in front of her.

"Ugh!" She screeched and jumped up, wiping dog mucus from her mouth. Jimmy barked happily and grabbed her pillow and started playing with it.

"Jimmy!" She screeched. His reply to her was an excited bark and the tossing of the pillow into the air. She looked around to find Midnight on top of the couch cleaning her paws and her snake giving her an evil smile.

"Guys, it's 9:45 in the morning." She said and grabbed the pillow from Jimmy. When she found a non drool covered side she stuffed her face and tried to fall asleep.

"It's too early I'm going back to sleep." She said, her voice was muffled from her head being in the pillow. To block out all the light she turned over leaving her back exposed.

She had just drifted off to sleep when she had a stabbing pain her back. It felt like 4 forks were being pushed into her spine. Annoyed and hurt she reached arm over her back and grabbed a soft furry neck. She held it in the air until she could roll over and look at it.

"Midnight!" She said thoroughly annoyed. She stuck her arm out over the floor and dropped him 6 inches. He landed on his feet his tail twitching in an amused yet irritated manner. She was trying to block them out when she had a strange feeling come over her.

She felt something and then she realized what it was. She reached down and grabbed her snake by the head.

"What did I tell you?" She asked. He flicked his tongue out as a response and gave her an innocent look.

"Uhhhh! Fine you win! You all win and Midnight if you open his cage one more time I will lock you out on the fire escape." She told her. A meow was heard and her bright gold eyes flicked from Sam to the fire escape in a like-you-would-do-that gesture.

Her ponytail lopsided and her socks half off, she gave them breakfast and sat on the couch looking for something to do.

Deciding she picked up the phone to call one of her friends. Balancing the phone and the paper she started talking.

"Hey Lea. Yeah I know it's been hectic. Hey do want to go to a movie. Oh your on call. You like being a baby nurse? Ok I don't know the technical term but still. Really? Oh alright ok. Talk to you soon, bye." She said and hung up. She sighed. Saturday's Julie covered for her partner and Jen was meeting with a client today. The little depression of seeing Danny with another girl had turned into a big depression now. She called Holly to see if she had any advice. She pulled the number out of her purse and dialed.

"Hello?" A deeper voice asked very groggy.

"Hi, uh is there a Holly there?" She asked unsure she if she had the right number.

She could hear a yawn on the other end.

"Yeah, hold on." He said. "Holly there's a girl on the phone." He yelled.

"Ok I'll get it hang on." Holly shouted. A click was heard and she picked up.

"Hello?" She asked.

"So that's Tom." Sam said.

"Oh hey Sam. Yeah that's my boyfriend, he's a night person like me. The only reason I'm up is because I felt claws in my back." She told her.

Same here." Sam replied giving a look to a little black furball on the floor.

"I love them though. Right now I'm on the couch with Bruce and Joker beside me Robin is on his back on my lap waiting for me to pet his fluffy little stomach and Ivy is asleep on top of the couch." She said looking towards her black cat who opened a green eye toward her and fell back asleep.

"I know Ivy is black with green eyes but what does, Robin look like?" She asked.

"He is a reddish brown with white boots on all of his paws and two white splotches over his eyes." She said. "Oh hey I have to put you on speaker for a sec, my waffle just popped." She said clicking it over.

"Ok." Sam replied now on speaker. "Hey I went to Mystery Archives last night and I saw Danny and his girlfriend there." Sam said.

"No way. What'd she look like?" She asked spreading cream cheese on it.

"I hated her. Really snotty, like I'm-better-than-you attitude. She was so fake and I don't think she likes him, I mean like really love him. Oh and she was wearing a chinchilla scarf." Sam said hating her more by the second. After she finished saying that she was aware of an eerie quiet. There was suddenly little chirping and squeaking noises coming from the other end of the phone. A cooing was heard and then the scraping of metal.

"Holly?" Sam asked unsure of what was going on.

"Yeah. Sam you kind of said the wrong thing. See I rescued Bubble, Billie Joe and Clay from a factory that, well you know." She said cradling them in her hands.

The 3 of them stood erect in her arms, ears up and eyes darting everywhere. They were shaking a little and shivered like they had a chill.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. Oh the poor things, how'd it happen?" Sam asked.

"Jerry and I were going downtown to cash my first royalty check for the fantasy book I wrote. I saw a guy with 2 little chinchillas in a cage go into a really disgusting building and of course I made Jerry follow him. We went in and saw like 30 little chinchillas and I lost it. I handed over the royalties check and bought them. It wasn't a smart thing and when I didn't have any money for 2 months I realized I should've thought more. Anyway Jerry offered to take the bus I drove them to my house and slowly gave them to good homes. Except for these guys.

No one wanted them and I thought Ryan and Gavin would like the company. Tom still thinks I'm crazy but I love them." She said and gave them a hug.

They had stopped shaking and Bubble was climbing on the couch while Clay decided it would be fun to sit on Ivy, who gave him an annoyed look and slept on.

"They get along?" Sam asked.

"Yeah they don't mind each other so we deal. But what's happening with you? How are you feeling?" She asked. Mindlessly stopping Billie Joe from jumping off the couch.

"I don't know. He looked happy, and I want him to be happy. Maybe I should find someone else." Sam said in a defeated tone.

"No! Danny is sweet and kind and you won't find anyone like that." She said.

"Hey what about me?" Tom asked coming from the bedroom. His oddly bright green eyes took away from the crow's nest of hair on his head.

"You don't count." Holly said and went back to Sam. "I bet you if I took you out to a club you would see how fake these guys are." Holly said.

"Holly-" Sam started to say.

"No, don't Holly me. We are going to find out where your knight in shining armor is going to be today and accidentally bump into him." She said.

"Bump into him?" She said skeptical.

"Yup, well premeditated bumping into him. But it's the same thing." She explained while taking a bite of her waffle. Bubble stood on his hind legs and twitched his nose at her. She rolled her eyes and tore off a piece and gave it to him.

"And how exactly do you plan to find this out?" Sam asked.

"Mmmmmmm, Jerry might know." She said.

Sam was quiet for a second then groaned. "You think up of everything don't you?" She asked.

"Yes." She replied. "Alright I'll call you after I call Jerry, bye!" She said cheerfully as she hung up. Billie Joe and Clay looked her with pleading little black eyes trying to look as cute as possible. She gave an annoyed sigh and gave them pieces too. And in the spirit of fairness she took Gavin and Ryan out and gave them some too. By the time she got to talk to Jerry there were 5 little balls of fuzz sitting on the couch contentedly chewing on Holly's waffle.

She was putting another waffle in the toaster as Jerry picked up the phone.

"Hello?" A weak voice answered.

"Hi Jerry." She said happily.

Holly? What the he- it's not even 11:00 yet, why are you up and why are you calling me?" He asked.

"We need some information." She said.

"We? What do you have a mouse in your pocket?" He asked.

"No I have 5 of them on the couch eating my waffle." She said. " Hey I saw you talking to

Danny, did he tell you anything about his weekend plans?" She asked leaning on the counter.

He rubbed his face and sat up on his bed. "What are you planning on stalking him?" He asked.

"No we just want to bump into him." She told him.

He shook his head. "You're crazy. Either that or you really want these kids to get together." He said.

"I do! She really likes him and besides you already had your turn at matchmaker, you got Tom and I together. It's my turn." She said.

"It was a joke!" He screamed while smiling. Being Italian he moved his hands while he talked. "I didn't think you'd actually like each other." He said.

"Well we did and now you have to help me." She said. She peeked over to look at her chinchillas. She took a head count and saw they were all still on the couch.

He flopped back down his bed and groaned. "Fine. He said he was going running at Blaze track at 12, the pet store after that and then Border's Books and then home." He told her.

"Thank you Jerry! You're the best! Alright see you Monday." She said and hung up. He did the same and went back to bed.

She called Sam back in a flash. "I hope you're a runner, because he's going running, then he's going to the pet store and then Border's." She told her.

"Running? I don't normally go running. I used to when I was 14 and trying to escape my mom, but not normally." She said.

"Well Blaze track is the only one in the city that allows dogs on it so take Jimmy and I'll take Bruce and Joker and we'll have a blast." She said.

"Ok, I guess it sounds like fun. Are you going to bring your little chinchillas, I read online you can take them outside." She said.

"Ha, that's funny. I take them outside but not like this, they'd disappear in a second. Lead by the ringmaster Billie Joe." She said looking at them.

"You let them run around the house." Sam argued.

"Yes because the house is mostly chinchilla proof. We always close the doors and the small spaces are wrapped with chicken wire twice over. Plus there's also a little fence we use. If I put them on a leash and took them outside for a walk altogether then we'd have trouble. Maybe one at a time but not altogether." She told Sam while putting cream cheese on her waffle.

There was a small crash and the sound of dripping water and 3 small squeaks. Tom came out with his boxers on, shaving cream on his face and a razor in his hands. Bruce and Joker were on either side of him. Ivy took the advantage of her owner's distraction to hop up on the counter and lay on the cool granite. Robin was rolling on the floor playing with a sock.

Holly rushed over and saw that Bubble had jumped onto the coffee table and crashed into a small vase with flowers in it. The plastic vase had fallen over and water had spilt on Billie Joe and Ryan who had hopped off the couch. Clay and Gavin were eating the flowers that had fallen and Bubble sat on haunches looking extremely innocent.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"Bubble crashed into the plastic flower vase at the end of the table and spilt water everywhere." Holly said while righting the vase and taking the flowers away from Clay and Gavin.

"Awwww, is he ok?" Sam asked.

"Yeah he's fine he just got the others wet." She said. Ryan stood there shivering and wet and let out a pathetic/ tear jerking squeak. She bent down to pick him up and Billie Joe shook all the water off into her face and climbed back onto the couch.

"Yuck. Tom I thought I told you to put the flowers on the counter." She said.

"I don't remember that." He said walking back into the bathroom. Joker hopped into his dog bed and Bruce sat by the TV and yawned.

"Well I'll let you go, we have to get ready to go walking. Where should I meet you?" Sam asked.

"Come to my place. We're the fourth apartment up on 121 Midnight Ave." She said while getting a towel to dry off poor Ryan.

"Alright see you soon." Sam said and hung up.

Holly dried Ryan off, put the other back in their cages and went into the bedroom to get dressed. The way to get to one of the bathrooms was to go through the bedroom. The sound of the sink going clued her into the fact Tom was in the bathroom.

"So this Danny guy, is he our age." Tom asked through the closed door.

"Yup, he's really hot too." She said while pulling on a light blue shirt.

"He is, hmmm." He replied while coming out of the bathroom. "Are you replacing me?" He asked half joking half serious.

"Oh honey!" Holly said and gave him a hug. "That's so sweet! No I'm not replacing you, I'm trying to get Sam and Danny together." She said while kissing him.

"Ok, I trust you." He said. "But I'm going walking with you anyway. I think I need the exercise." He said.

She scoffed. "What the six pack isn't enough?" She asked.

"Hey I worked hard for that. It took a lot of exercise, besides you're so busy during the week I never see you, can't I come." He asked sincerely.

She studied him. "Fine." She answered finally.

"Great. I'll get dressed." He said. She shook her head as she got her jeans on and brushed her hair. Fully dressed she searched for her ipod and other running items.

"It's 11:15, hurry it up a bit, it takes a 15 minutes to get to the track." She said.

"I'm coming." He replied. She grabbed two leashes and looked around for her dogs. She whistled loudly and they came running out.

"Who wants to go for a walk?" She asked. They barked happily and jumped in the air. She smiled and the door bell rang.

"Come in!" She yelled while grabbing her cell phone out of her purse. Sam walked in quietly taking everything in.

"Hey! Sit down relax, one of my pets is going to say hi, so if you see a furry blur don't be too scared." She said.

Bruce went over to Sam and automatically started sniffing her at soon as she sat down. Joker was right behind him. She laughed at their eagerness and pet them and played with them. Jimmy suddenly came bolting into the room to sit in front of Sam.

They stared at each other for a second, checking each other out for potential danger. Jimmy was surprised, he had never seen another dog who was his size. Most of the ones that lived in the other apartments were very tiny. They could fit in the other ladies purses.

He thought that was very stupid, it's so cramped and there was no room to move, but this dog was just his size and he wasn't afraid.

A lot of dogs and people were wary of him, he didn't know why, he just knew some got kind of nervous when he got really excited. He sniffed the other dogs nose and fur. It was much thicker than his.

They circled each other for a couple of seconds. Bruce looked at Jimmy with hope, his human was friends with this dog's human. Maybe they could get together a lot. Bruce liked the Jack Russell but it would be nice to have a friend who was his size and would meet other times than at the park on Sundays.

_**These are their translations**_

"Hi, I'm Jimmy, I'm a German Shepard." He said.

"Really? That's cool, I've never met a German Shepard before. I like the name your human gave you, any special reason for it?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, there's this guy on her CD, she really likes them, she even named the snake we have after the lead singer, what's your name?" He asked.

"Bruce I'm a husky. You guys have a snake? Cool we used to have one but we had to give it away. What's his name?" Bruce inquired.

"Billie Joe. He's a cool little guy. A husky huh? That's cool where I live we only have little dogs. What's your name for?". Jimmy answered.

"I'm named after Bruce Wayne, he's Batman. You know the tall guy with the cape and the ears who all the human love. We have a chinchilla named Billie Joe, and we have 4 others." Bruce replied.

"A chinchilla?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah follow us, J and I will show you." He said walking him toward the cages.

"Hey I heard my name." Billie Joe asked from his cage. **A/N The voice of the chinchilla is the voice of the singer, except Bubble he is voiced by Jason Marsden or Chester on the Fairly Odd Parents.)**

**End Animal Conversation.**

"Well it looks like they're getting along." Sam said as she watched them walk together.

"Good. Hey you want to see the chinchillas, while we wait for Tom."

"Sure." Sam replied with a smile. "Can I hold the black one? Or Billie Joe?" She asked.

"He is the black one, and sure." She said lifting him out of the cage.

"Aw, he's cute for a troublemaker." She replied cradling him in her arms. " I've always been partial to black too. I was goth when I was younger." She said.

"Really? You couldn't tell. Black My Chemical Romance shirt, dark purple skirt, Green Day necklace, which I love by the way. Nah you're a regular valley girl." She said sarcastically.

"Hey well I can't be myself in class, adults still frown upon this sort of stuff. And your not exactly miss sunshine. Bon Jovi cd's, Green Day bracelet, bat earrings?" Sam accused while watching Billie Joe climb on her shirt.

"We all have different sides to us we can't show. Secrets, _segreti _of _fiducia, amore, and dolore._" She said softly while petting Bubble. **A/N Dolore is pain, just so you know, Sam doesn't but you guys do now.**

"What?" Sam asked. Holly snapped out of her trance and looked at Sam.

"Segreti is secrets, fiducia is trust and amore is love." She answered.

"Oh, what about the last one?" She asked.

"Nothing of importance. Have you ever noticed the similarity between love and pain? Two very different emotions, yet linked." She said taking Billie Joe off Sam's head.

"Why are you talking in riddle?" Sam asked.

"No reason." She answered putting them back.

"Ok, we can get out of here." A voice behind them said. "Oh hello, you must be Sam, pleasure to meet you." He said shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you too." She replied a little spellbound. At first glance his eyes were quite shocking.

"Alright! Let's go." He said and smiled. He glanced at Holly and they both ran to the counter. They struggled to obtain something from each other and finally broke apart after 5 minutes.

"Ha!" Tom screamed. "I get to drive! I got the keys." He said jingling them in his hands.

"You always get to drive you're taller than me." Holly replied.

Sam stood there confused at what was going on. Holly looked over at her while brushing some crumbs off her shirt.

"We always fight for the keys to the Impala, it's the sport one and it's fast." She said

"Oh." Sam replied. Still standing near the cages.

"But he cheats." She said. "Ok do you have your stuff?" She asked as Joker and Bruce ran toward her.

"Yup." Sam said and smiled. "Ok Jimmy, you ready!" She said. He barked excitedly and ran toward her as they left. Holly and Sam started talking as they went down the stairs talking about everything from music to food, to guys. When Tom was in the car she looked at Holly.

"He's cute, where'd you meet?" She asked.

"Jerry set us up. We hated each other and then we fell in love." She said letting the dogs jump in the back.

"Oh, cuz when you first meet him his eyes, just…" She said looking for the right word.

"Are the first thing you see. I know, they're as green as Danny's eyes are blue." She said elbowing Sam.

Sam rolled her eyes and got in the back. She thought it would be rude to sit in the front. They got in and she started staring out the window. Clocks by coldplay started playing on the radio and the music made her reflect.

_Should I be doing this? He's happy, he has a girlfriend who loves him. I'm being selfish, I see what everyone else has and I want it too. I guess I am a rich girl. Trying to breakup a beautiful, honest and in love couple, so I can have him._

_**Danny's life at 11:00 am on a Saturday.**_

"_NO!_" Danny screamed as he sat up in bed. He was breathing heavy and felt sick. He looked around. Nothing, not so much as a rustle. Tuck must have already left. He put a hand to his forehead and inhaled.

"_It was just a dream Danny. You took care of Skulker, and Ember." _He thought to comfort himself. _"Yeah but Vlad is still out there. And he was just as powerful two years ago as he was 20 years ago."_ With this wonderful thought in mind he hopped out of bed and went to get his socks on. Something darted in between his legs and he lost his footing. He landed with a crash on the floor.

A small white face looked at him from the floor. He frowned, Nicole's "Devil Cat" Whiskers Moonshine was here, she must be out shopping. He liked cats, just not this one, he could have sworn it had it out for him. He pushed himself up and noticed a deep scratch across his arm. Oh lovely now he was a scratching post.

He steadied himself and got dressed in loose jeans and a blue muscle shirt. A superhero couldn't be weak, they had to have some muscle. A quick breakfast and then he could leave.

He stretched and walked out into the kitchen, 2 notes wee on the fridge. One from Nicole and one from Tuck.

Hey Honey,

I went out shopping, and I'll be back later on, I came over to see if you were awake. I left Moon over here, if you could give her some breakfast I would appreciate it.

Love you,

Nici

"Great, now I gotta feed the cat." He blurted out while crumpling up the note. "Let's see what Tuck's note says." He mumbled to himself.

Hey Danny,

I left around 10, to go fix someone's computer, I should be back around 1. Remember all 4 of us are going to the movie's tonight.

Tuck

"Right the movies, forgot about that. Well I should get going, the track is normally free at lunch time." He said as he grabbed a water bottle. He headed out the door when he grabbed his arm in pain, the slash Moon had supposedly given him was throbbing. He turned around and there she was sitting on top of the counter staring at him.

He looked at her for a second and could have sworn her eyes changed color. He shook his head and walked out the door leaving the devil cat thought out of his mind.

"You've finally lost it Danny. Too many years of ghost fighting, you've gone crazy. Evil cats. Moon isn't evil she's just spoiled." He said locking the door and getting into his car.

_Sam at the track_

"I don't see him." Sam said as she warmed up on the edge of the track.

"Chill out, he'll be here" Holly reassured her.

"Well even if he was he wouldn't look at you." Tom said. "You don't look the part, you look like the girl next door getting ready for softball season. Holly help her out." He said.

Sam looked at him appalled and shocked. "That's so rude." She said.

"Yes it is, but it's true. Hmmm, how do you get a guy's attention." Holly thought. She looked Sam over for a second.

"Pull your shirt down and roll up the shorts." Tom answered finally.

"That's disgusting. Danny doesn't care about that, he's not like that, he's -" Sam started to say.

"A guy. And that's what guys notice. It's disgusting yes but it's the nature of the male species. If you want to get his attention, that's the way to do it. If he looks at your face when you start talking it means he's not bad." Tom replied.

Sam narrowed her eyes at him. "That isn't true. Plenty of guys would notice a girl if she didn't wear low cut shorts, and shirts." She said.

"True but she has a better chance if she does. We're in our 20's, our prime, and that's what they think about. You want Danny's attention, he sees you as a colleague. Let him know you are, but a little more." Tom said. She glared at him.

"Fine." She finally answered and set out to do what he instructed.

"Hey does he drive a black impala?" Holly asked.

"Yeah." Sam replied looking at her watch.

"Well then he's here." She replied looking at the car. Sam followed her gaze and saw him come out. Her heart skipped a beat. Yup, she was head over heels for him.

Danny nonchalantly threw hi sunglasses in the front seat and entered on the closest opening, away from the 3 of them. Which was good, it needed to seem casual.

"Ok Jimmy! You ready?" She asked. He barked happily and spun in a circle. Joker and Bruce immediately took their place in between Tom and Holly. Sam was next to Holly and Jimmy walked next to Bruce.

"How do we catch up to him, we can't just run right by." Sam said.

Holly smiled. "Watch." She said. She looked at Bruce and Joker who were playfully snapping at each other.

"Bruce, Joker, correre avanti." She said. They cocked their heads to one side and then sprang forward. Jimmy confused, just followed. They ran ahead very quickly until Holly spoke again.

"Fermata! Parlare." She yelled. They stopped 5 feet in front of Danny and started barking. Jimmy followed.

They ran forward to fetch them and casually bump into Danny. He was rather confused but heard someone running after them so he decided to stay and made sure their owners got them.

"They know the commands in Italian?" Sam asked as they ran to catch them

"Yup. My friend trains movie animals and she said it might be easier to teach them in Italian It's a romance language and it's easier to learn." She said. They stopped and bent down to collect the 3 dogs when Sam looked up.

"I'm really sorry, sir I-oh Danny it's you." She said.

"Oh hey Sam, that's weird meeting you here, and Holly too." He said. "These must be your dogs." He asked looking down at them.

"Yeah, Jimmy is a bit overactive." She said hugging his neck.

"So the husky and little dog are.. Holly and…" He said looking at Tom.

"Tom, nice to meet you." He said shaking his hand.

" Likewise." Danny replied with a smile. "I've never seen you on the track before." He said to Sam.

"Oh well I didn't know it was here. Holly told me and we thought it would be fun for romance…I mean running." She said quickly.

"Note to self." Sam thought. " Pay attention to the conversation not his eyes.

"Oh. Hey I still have a mile left. You guys want to join me?" He asked.

"Well we would but we have to keep an eye on these 2, Bruce has a habit of knocking people over." Holly replied for Tom and herself.

"I'll run with you. Jimmy's well behaved and it'll be fun having someone to talk to." She said. Holly and Tom said their goodbyes and went off to the park version of the track.

Danny and Sam started running and talking. Sam looked at him. The muscle you don't notice in his arms when the dress shirt covers them was visible.

"Ok Sam all you have to do is not screw this up." She thought. "If you can keep your composure it shouldn't be that hard." She looked at him again. "I'm in trouble." She thought.

" So, I didn't know your dog was a german shepard, I love big dogs." He said.

"Yeah, I love him. I have a cat and a snake at home right now too." She replied.

"Really? Nicole hates snakes, so we agreed not to get one." He said.

"_Wow, Sam looks different outside of school especially when her shirt-" _He started to think. He shook his head to get rid of the thought. He was almost a married man, and Sam was a friend and a colleague he shouldn't have been thinking about her like that, although she did look very pretty.

"Oh, well do you have any pets?" She asked.

"Yeah her incredibly fluffy and white cat, Whiskers Moonshine." He said.

"Whiskers Moonshine?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yup." He replied.

"What possessed her to name that poor animal that?" She asked.

"Don't know, but it's far from a poor animal. Look what I found on my arm this morning." He said rolling up his sleeve. Sam gasped a little when she saw the gash.

"That's not a scratch a normal house cat could have made. A cougar maybe, but not a house cat." She replied. The gash was much bigger in the light and it was much deeper.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah. If you asked me those look like claw marks from like wolverine claws." She said.

"Like the animal?" He asked.

"No, like the superhero. The huge retractable foot long ones. How'd you get that?" She asked.

He was silent for a second. He hoped she thought it was because it was he had to think. But really he was searching for a lie, he couldn't tell her he might have gotten it while fighting ghosts.

" Uh maybe on my friend's motorcycle." He lied quickly. _"Friend's motorcycle? That was the stupidest thing you have ever said, don't lie to her! You're supposed to be an honest person and what you go and-_

"Oh that's cool. I didn't know you road motorcycles." She said with a smile. Danny's heart skipped a beat for a second.

"_Stop that! You're almost married you can't fall for another girl!" _He mentally thought.

"So uh wolverine huh? You must like superheroes, who's your favorite?" He asked trying to avoid the motorcycle topic.

"Oh, well most people think it's a nerdy thing liking superheroes but I think my favs in this order would be Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the Fantastic 4, followed by Spiderman, the X-men and then Hulk in last place." She said.

"Hmm well mine go Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Hulk, X-men and Fantastic 4. And I don't think it's nerdy, the best movies came out in the 90's to the 2000's. Now they don't even use real actors, it's a shame." He said.

"Yeah." Sam agreed. "So do have your lesson plan ready?" She asked.

"Yup, well for the first 2 weeks. I still need to go farther into the book. I have it easy, English is harder to teach. I just have to follow events it's mostly mapped out for me, but you have to think of everything." He replied.

Sam blushed. "You get used to it, plus I love it so it won't be that hard. But the one thing I love is field trips. It's so much fun to get out of the school." She told him. Jimmy was going from side to side following the conversation. This Danny guy wasn't all bad, as long as he didn't steal his Sam they were good.

Danny reached down and ruffled Jimmy's fur. "I love them too just not when you have to organize them. That's a hundred little children you have to watch." He said. "Though having lunch out of school is the best." He replied.

"I know, the best thing is being able to go to burger king and getting one of those salads with cold coca cola and fries. I'm a vegetarian, so to me a salad like that is appetizing." She said.

"Oh good. I was going to say you definitely don't need to go on a diet and a lot of men appreciate women who are real and don't focus everything on how they look." He told her as he pushed a stray strand of black hair away from his face.

Sam blushed again, she didn't mean to it just happened. Danny looked down at his watch and laughed in surprise.

"You know we've been talking for so long we walked 2 miles instead of running 1." He said. "Well it was nice getting to know my teacher neighbor, but now I have to go, so I'll see you on Monday." He said.

"Yeah." She replied and waved as he jogged away. When he was out of sight she ran to where Holly and Tom were sitting and fell on the grass.

"Well?" Holly asked.

"I'm still his teaching partner." She said disappointed.

"Well, let's grab something to drink for us and the dogs go to the pet store for some treats for them and the run into Danny again at borders. We can't go to the same pet store it'll seem suspicious." She said as she helped Sam up.

"Ok." She said feeling a little better. Tom came over and gave her a sideways hug and put his finger under her chin.

"Relax, we'll get him to notice you, he can't be that oblivious." He said. She smiled at him and returned the hug.

"Thanks, you're right. Now. I'm thirsty they're has to be someone vending something around here." She said. They found a vendor and got 2 water bottles and 3 icee's. they put the water into 3 bowls and they all relaxed for a little while.

"Ok let's get these guys some treats, eat lunch and the head off to borders. We obviously can't go to the same pet store, otherwise it would go from coincidence to your stalking me." Tom said as he threw his cup into the trash.

"Sounds good." Sam and Holly agreed.

"Alright then, let's go." He replied. They hopped in and grabbed treats and food for the dogs, sandwiches for them and when they had eaten their fill off to Border's Books they

went.

On the ride there Jimmy stuck his head out the window and at a red light a girl in a backseat of the car next to them smiled and "Hi doggy!" while waving. Everyone smiled and when Joker and Bruce went to he window she giggled happily and shouted "More doggies!"

"Ok, we have arrived. Now Tom can you stay with the dogs outside while Sam and I go in?" She asked. He looked at her with a why-do-you-want-me-to-do-this-cuz-I-don't-want-to look on his face.

"Uhhh, fine ok." He said.

"Thank you!" She said and hugged him.

"Yeah yeah, now go." He said. They hopped out of the car and walked inside the store.

"Ok let's go to the poetry section it's near the fantasy section that way we can both get what we want." Sam said as she dragged Holly to the book shelves. As they looked at the books Danny walked in with jeans and shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"_I hope Sam isn't upset, I didn't mean to leave so suddenly. I haven't really been treating her like a friend, well when I see her I'll change that." He thought._

He walked to the poetry section and picked up a book of poems by William Blake. He looked across the isle and saw Sam smiling and laughing at a book of Shel Silverstein poems. He smiled and walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, I thought I'd see you on Monday." He said. She smiled with delight.

"Oh hey Danny, I didn't know you liked poetry." She said pointing to the book in his hands.

"Oh this? Well my old English/ Vice Principal is retiring this year and when I was in 9th grade this book was what a very important test was on. He got me on track a little and I have to thank him for it. He always said I should have read more." Danny replied while fingering the book.

"Oh." Sam said. "I find it romantic, but you can never find a guy like that." She said.

"I'm one, I'm what you call the hopeless romantic. I love the old school way of love. But I'm not good at it, I'm too clutsy." He said.

Outside Jimmy was watching intently.

" _Why does he keep coming back! He seems nice, but he keeps getting closer to my human. I love her, and what will happen to me and her if he comes in the picture? Will she forget about me?" Jimmy thought._

Suddenly he got very mad at Danny and started growling, but he didn't do anything…yet.

"Hey how about we pay for the books and then talk over something to drink in the café?" He asked.

"Sure." Sam replied with a smile. _" Wow, this is perfect, he's acting much more friendly." She thought._

They paid for their poetry as Holly watched from the fantasy section. They went to the café and got something to drink. Danny came back with a hot chocolate for Sam and warm apple cider for him.

"So, I have learned a lot about you, but how about we ask each other some questions?" He asked. Sam nodded and he started asking.

"Full name?" He asked.

"Samantha Elizabeth Manson." She answered. "Yours?" She asked.

"Daniel James Fenton." He answered. " Favorite color?" He asked.

"Black." She replied. "Yours?" She asked.

" Blue." He answered " Uhhh let's see, favorite movie?" He asked.

"Anything Tim Burton." She replied "Yours?"

"Toss up between Spiderman and Sahara." He answered. "Favorite Book?"

" Hmm, favorite Fantasy is Inkspell, favorite adult book would be Davinci Code and Dante's Peak." She replied. "And yours?"

"Blood Line, and the ever popular Dante's peak." He said. They smiled and laughed at each others expression.

Jimmy outside was now mad and by the time Danny had gotten up to get something to eat Jimmy had gotten loose and rushed through the open door a customer had left open. A bewildred Tom held on to Bruce and Joker and couldn't grab Jimmy. Jimmy had his sight set and Danny and put all of his German Shepard body into knocking him down.

Danny looked up to see a huge dog running after him and had just enough time to run. Sam looked up from Danny's book to see him running from a dog. Jimmy was barking and rushing to catch him while knocking over 3 bookshelves and running into the Grammy Cd's rack. Holly saw them and dropped her book and started running after him. Sam at this point realized who's dog it was and joined in the chase.

Danny looked behind him to see the dog at his heels. He got a determined look on his face and ran a little faster than a normal human, but not enough to give him away. Looking for help Holly looked outside.

"Bruce!" She yelled. " Dope che lui! Fermalo!" She screamed. Her grammar may have been off but who cared. Tom let him go and Bruce broke away he jumped into the chase and took off after Jimmy. This was where his half wolf blood come in handy.

**Translations**

"Jimmy stop! He's a nice guy!" He shouted.

"NO he's not! He's after Sam, and what will happen if she loves him and not me?" HE braked while still chasing Danny.

"She wouldn't do that! And if something does happen I heard Holly say she'll take care of everything! Please leave him alone, he's just a human." He answered.

Jimmy cornered Danny while snarling. " He may leave Sam alone but he's DEFINETLY not human." He said. Danny's eyes flashed green and a smiled curled on his lips. Both Bruce and Jimmy whined and ran back to Sam and Holly who were just coming up now.

"Danny are you ok? I'm so so so so so sorry! He's not normally like that he's nice and playful and-." Sam was cut off midsentence by Bruce and Jimmy crying and hiding behind them.

"It's ok, he probably thought I was stealing you from him. Well how about I help you clean up the broken bookshelves and stuff and then we call it a day?" HE asked and walked over to a bookshelf.

"Sure." Sam replied in shock. "I've never seen Jimmy act like this it's like he seen a ghost." Sam said.

"I know, something weird happened." She said. The manager was coming over to yell at everyone and Holly escorted Jimmy and Bruce out. Sam was confused and Danny was sweating bullets.

"_Too close! That was too close, they'll know something's up. Relax, you can't do anything now, just try not to freak out. Help Sam out and she'll be none the wiser." He thought._

The 2 of them put Border's back together and left for the night.

**Ok what did u think? I know it took forever but a little review? Please?**


	6. More Problems

**Hey, srry it's been a while but it's been hard! I haven't been able to write naything, this is extra long, enjoy! Oh and a big thanks to Saisa I had no idea about the whole substitute/legal teacher thing thanks for telling me. And at my school the elective teachers only teach the electives, they're not regular classroom teachers. It was probably different at your school, differnt schools have different formats. Sorry for any mistakes, I've had a really tough couple of months.**

**disclaimer: I don't own anything famous in this fic (Danny Phantom, Superrman, music)**

**The new superman movie is talked about in this chapter**

Sam laid down on her couch and sighed. What had she done? She set her 200 pound german shepard on him, and destroyed a whole bookstore. She looked at said pet and he whined and put his head on her leg as if to say "I'm sorry". She ruffled his hair and kicked off her shoes. Her muscles hurt from everything she'd done today, and they screamed as she stretched and moved around on the couch. With closed eyes she grabbed her remote and switched the lights to dim, turned the tv on and decided that changing in pajamas was too much work.

"Forget about the fact that you have no shot at all with the guy you have your heart set on." She told herself as she curled up into a ball and put an extra pillow over her head. Her pets looked on in confusion and pity. Midnight turned to Jimmy with yellow eyes blazing.

"What did you do! We only left you alone for not even 12 hours and you make her into a insecure, depressed and hopeless human!" Midnight screeched.

"Woah, ok I didn't like the guy, he was too close to her he was going to steal her from us. I'm here to protect and I'm not going to let another guy hurt her like the last one." Jimmy said.

"I don't think that horrible person is coming back anytime soon." Her snake added to the conversation. " I mean you practically used him as chew toy, and Midnight, please you weren't even that ruthless to your scratching post."

"Oh really well you weren't exactly the nicest either. Mr. Boa constrictor." Midnight replied to his comment. "Anyway, what did you do to this one Jimmy?"

He shifted nervously and his tail twitched. "I chased him while growling and snapping. He ran and was scared….. at first." he said.

"Ugh!" Midnight hissed while putting her claws on Jimmy's face. "What do I have to tell you to get it through your over protective mind! This guy is nice! The way she talks about him and what that other lady said adds up to the fact that he does not want to get rid of us and fu……wait did you say at first?"

She took her paws off his mouth and stepped back.

"Yeah then when I had him cornered he looked at me funny and kinda smiled. His eyes changed color too and his personality was different, he was stronger more………" He started to say.

"More what?" She asked.

Jimmy thought about his answer carefully. " Dangerous, he scared me and that big husky. I mean really scared."

Midnight looked up at Billie.

"We have to watch him." Billie replied. Midnight arched her back and shook her fur.

"I don't like the sound of this guy anymore. He's hiding something." She replied. They all stared at a sleeping Sam with a worried look.

"We have to watch out for her." Jimmy said. They all nodded in a silent agreement.

With Danny……

Danny ran a hand through his hair as he walked on the empty sidewalk. He checked his watch, 8:00, not late but it felt it. Of course he hadn't been home since he left and right now he wanted to keep it that way. There were thoughts and problems at home that he didn't feel like tackling. Big problems, so big that not even his favorite song could get his mind away from it. He walked up the steps to a blue house with a green front lawn and flowers scattered about. He rang the doorbell and stuck his hands in his pockets as he waited for the door to open. It opened to reveal a red haired woman with a smile on her face.

"Hello? Danny! Come in, what's going on?" She chattered. Danny smiled and hugged her.

"Hey Jazz, how's my big sis and her family doing?" He asked as he pulled away from the hug.

"Great. What's up with you?" She asked as they walked inside.

"Nothing, just having some difficulties." He said with a smile. Jazz gave him a confused look as the pitter of little feet came from the kitchen.

"Uncle Danny!" Two voices screeched.

"Hey my little nieces! How's it going?" He asked as he bent down and picked them up, he twirled them around before tickling them.

"Good." They replied at the same time.

"Oh, Lexi, I'm lovin the pink balloon nightgown. And Elizabeth are these new blue cloud slippers I see?" He asked with a niece in each arm.

"Thank you, for the lovely complement." Elizabeth said. She had her father's brown hair and green eyes.

"Well we know who takes after her mother in attitude." Danny said while looking at Jazz.

"You rock uncle Danny, why are you here?" Lexi asked aqua eyes questioning him. Her red hair cascaded down her neck.

"And who takes after their father in attitude." Danny added. He dropped them to the floor just as their father entered the room.

"I thought you were supposed to be in bed?" He asked the two little figures on the ground.

"But uncle Danny's here!" Lexi said. Their father looked at them.

"That's no excuse, you are only 6 young lady, and you miss Elizabeth are only 5, you need your sleep." He said scooping them up.

"Awww come on it's Saturday!" Lexi whined. " That's not the point, you remember what I told you?" he asked.

"That Uncle Danny is a party animal?" Lexi asked.

"That Uncle Danny is a crazy nut who's too wild for his own good?" Elizabeth said. Their father turned bright red as he looked at Danny. Danny arched an eyebrow and put a playfully evil smirk on his face.

"Really? Hmm Richard did you actually call me a crazy nut who's too wild for his own good?" Danny asked.

"Uh.." He started to say.

"Well that's what I thought. Well I'll get over it, I'm not sure you will though." He laughed. "Kids say the darndest things, don't they."

He picked up the 2 of them and smiled. "I wonder what else your daddy has said?" He asked them. "But I'll tell you what if you two go to bed I will visit you tomorrow." He said. They looked at each and yawned. "Ok." They replied. They ran back into the bedroom they're father following behind them.

Danny and Jazz walked into the kitchen. Danny sat down at the table and his smile faded. Jazz was seated on the opposite side as she reached over and put her arm on his shoulder.

"What's up you don't normally stop in for visits on their bedtimes." She asked.

"I don't know, it's weird. I've been thinking about everything and it just seems………" His voice trailed off as he stared out of a window across the room.

"Is it about getting married?" Jazz asked.

"I don't know. I think so. I know I love her but…." His voice trailed off again.

"Ah see, now there's the problem, but what? Do you want to marry her?" Jazz asked.

"Yes. Yes I love her, I...want to marry her." Danny said.

"Really? If you ask me, it sounds like your trying to convince yourself. Danny think about it. What are you feeling right now?" She asked him.

"I'm not convincing myself and about how I feel, I don't know, I've only felt this way once and…….. it was difficult. I have a confusing mixture of relief and a knotted pit in the bottom of my stomach. I can't get rid of it even if I threw up." Danny said. Jazz got him a glass water and sat back down. He didn't touch it.

"Danny I don't know what to say. What happened the last time you felt this way?" She asked.

Danny went rigid and he turned a little pale. His jaw hardened as if recalling the memory was painful. "It's not something I want to remember. Let's put it at that."

He put his coat on and made his way for the door. "Goodnight Jazz." He said as walked out. Jazz stared at the closed door knowing nothing she could do would make it any better.

Danny looked at the night sky above him. He inhaled the night scent and let it linger around him. The only time he belonged in the open. It seemed to him that as he got older he resented that part of himself more and more. During his lifetime he'd met others like him, creatures that felt that the legend was right, they should only be seen at night. He never thought that until he got older he would be skipping out on a night with friends or a date or grading papers would be put behind because of a rescue.

By the time he finished his thought he came up to the house he was looking for. His old house never seemed to change. It was timeless, just like his parents. He knocked on the door and his mother opened it, surprised.

"Danny, we didn't expect you here, come in." She said as she ushered him into the house. He walked in barely smiling, it was then his mom knew something was wrong.

"Honey are you ok?" she asked concerned. Jack came downstairs and gave him a hug.

"Yeah I'm fine it's just that I wanted to talk." He said. They went into the kitchen and sat down. Jack made coffee as Maddie and Danny stared at each other from across the table.

"Now honey tell us everything." She said as she wrapped her hands around the mug.

"Well first of all the big news is…. I'm proposing to Nicole next weekend." He said.

"What?" Maddie asked as her face twisted into shock.

"I'm proposing." He reiterated.

"You can't! I mean it's just too soon and you're too young and she well she isn't….she isn't…" Maddie started to say.

Danny's face turned into a frown and his eyebrows came together in anger.

"She isn't what, mom?" Danny asked.

"Well she isn't…." Her voice trailed off.

"She isn't what you wanted isn't she? You don't like her and you don't want me to marry her do you?" He asked.

"Well…." Maddie said as she winced.

"Well what?" He yelled pushing his chair back and getting up.

"Well….fine! I didn't want to tell you this but I think she's horrible! She's rude and obnoxious and mean and…" Maddie started to say more but Danny cut her off.

"You mean that just because she thinks that ghost hunting is fake and that ghosts aren't real-" Danny said. Maddie cut him off.

"No I just don't think she deserves you! You're my baby boy, your charming and sweet and she's spoiled, she's not for you, believe me Danny! I'd never hurt you. She said. She went over to him and tried to put her hands on his shoulders. He looked at hurt and pushed her hands away. He turned around and walked out the door. It slammed behind him as his heavy footsteps went down the street.

Maddie stood there for a second in shock. Jack sensed the distress in her attitude and came over and put his arms on her shoulders. She looked up at him.

"Jack do you think I'm a horrible person? A horrible mother?" She asked her eyes searching him for an answer.

"No, honey no. You just want what's best for him even if he doesn't know it. You've been around the block and you know who to chose. Just think of how life could have been if you married someone else." He said.

"Thanks Jack you always make me feel better." She told him. She hugged him and rested her head on his chest. A tear slid down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away.

Outside a furious Danny walked down the street his anger consuming him.

"She's so selfish, she doesn't want me to marry the person I love because she doesn't approve of her." He said out loud in disbelief.

He leaned against a lamppost and sighed. He needed to relax, he was really angry. His eyes were glowing green and he fought to keep control of his temper. After a few minutes he headed back toward his apartment where Tuck would be.

The next morning

Sam woke up from a nice sleep, a peaceful sleep where she forgot about everything that troubled her. Her heart sank a little when she realized it was Sunday. She wanted a distraction from her personal life and school was the thing to do it. Well at least she'd have time to check out the city today, even since she'd moved here she never really had time and now she had plenty of it. She needed a hobby and not one that involved Danny Fenton.

In her teenage years she had taken to acting and even taken some classes in college. She enjoyed it a lot and wanted to see if there were any community theaters around. She set her mind to it and got dressed. After a quick breakfast and brushing her hair and teeth she clipped Jimmy to his leash let Midnight out and fed her little devil snake.

She grabbed her purse and she went out to see the area. Her apartment was in a very urban area, so the streets were busy with people. She mixed in with the crowd and went to get a coffee.

"Hmmm, Starbucks-no, Dunkin Donuts- no, oh this place looked cute." She said as she walked along the streets. She went into a little café with a bright orange coffee cup on the window and East Street café written in big swirly bright yellow letters on the door.

The little bell jingled as she went in, Jimmy by her side. The man at the counter smiled. He was in his 30's, with some Mexican background and a smile to kill.

"You know, we don't allow pets in here, but since you're a first timer I'll let it slide." He said with a smile and wink. "But what can I get you?" He asked.

Sam smiled shyly. "Uh just a medium regular with sugar to go." She replied.

He nodded and went to get her coffee. There was an awkward silence for a little bit.

"Can you tell me where the community theater is, that is, if you have one." She asked.

He put the cap on the cup and smiled. "Yes we do have one, in fact I'm in it." He answered while sliding the cup over to her.

"Oh, well if you could give me some information I'd really appreciate it." She said. He laughed a little.

"Sure, but we should talk outside." He replied and went out the door to one of the 5 small table out front. They sat down and Sam fingered her coffee.

"Let's see, first off the theater is a couple blocks down, you can't miss it. They're having auditions for a part in the play and they're still deciding on what to do, but they have it narrowed down to a couple." He told her. "One of them they really want to do, but don't have the money and the second one is really basic."

Sam was intrigued. "What are they thinking of doing?" she asked while looping the end of the leash around her arm.

"The basic one is a Christmas Carol and the second one is a short story made by this kid in the High School. It's a superhero thing, it could have been really good except they need more money. Everyone was really excited about it." He said.

Sam arched an eyebrow. Money was the only problem, well she'd have to read the play first and maybe she'd lend them the money.

"Here this is for the coffee, and thanks for the info." She said as she walked away. The guy was holding a 10 in his hands.

"The coffee was only 3.50!" He shouted.

"Keep it!" She said. She wanted to get to the theater and fast. Jimmy ran next to her having fun just running. She saw the building and ran faster. She burst through the doors with Jimmy in hand. There were a couple of people in there arguing over a bunch of papers.

"Who's there?" asked one of the figures. Sam was too absorbed in the theater to answer. As soon as she entered she was looking at a huge foyier with a chandelier hanging overhead. There was a desk which would have been used for tickets which the people were arguing over and then the open doors led her to the biggest stage she had ever seen.

The figure got up and went over to her.

"And who exactly are you?" It asked. When the shadow stepped into the light it could be seen. It was a woman in her 50's her black hair graying a little on the side but her brown eyes were warm and friendly even though she was trying to be menacing.

Sam swallowed and caught her breath. "I'm Sam well Samantha but that's not the point I'm here because I want to read the script, the one that high school kid wrote." She said. Jimmy panted along side her.

The woman scrutinized them. "Why?" she asked.

" I want to help with the financial issue, I just want to read it first." She said. The woman eyed her and put her glasses on top of her head.

"How could you possibly help this old place?" She asked the harshness in her tone returning to sorrow.

"I'm heir to the Manson fortune." She replied. The woman looked at her and smiled a tiny smile. "Fine I'll let you read, I mean we'll let you read." She said gesturing to the other people at the desk. "But I must warn you when that person wrote this they were in high school, they may not be anymore." She said and gestured Sam over to the table.

On the desk was a 3 inch thick screenplay. There was only the title on the cover "_Two Sides to A Hero"_. She picked it up and read the first 4 chapters, and then skimmed the rest. When she placed it down about a half hour later she looked at them.

"This is amazing I want to help make it work." She said. They all nodded in agreement.

"I don't have any hobbies and I could make a kid's dream come true, heck I could even _be_ in the play." She thought.

"Ms. Manson you don't know what this means to us. This theater has only put on the classics some new material is what we need to get attendance up, we have to thank you, for reviving an old dream for some people." He said. Sam smiled.

"I just have a question, who wrote it? I'm a teacher and I might know the student I want to congratulate them." She said.

"Oh yes, the person was modest and put his name on the back cover. If I can read the handwriting it's a Mr. Daniel Fenton. We haven't gotten in contact with him but he sent it a while ago and we found it in the old archives." She said.

As soon as that name came out of her mouth Sam turned white. "What is it with this guy! I can't do one thing without him being in my life and now he- wait it's a superhero novel, I didn't know he was this interested in superheroes." She thought.

Jimmy put a paw on her leg and whined. A flashback of him running scared from Danny shot through her head.

"Jimmy would never run away from someone he thought was a threat unless they were really scary. What if Danny- no he can't. I feel silly for even thinking about it." She thought. She pushed it away from her mind and made arrangements to get the amount needed to make it happen. The price was a little high, but she could get that from her parents it wasn't a huge amount.

She walked home thinking about who she would audition for and who should would have a chance of getting. Although even as she walked home to practice her lines the thought that Danny could be a superhero bugged her. As she got back into her house she came to a conclusion to watch him, closely. Oddly enough she was so preoccupied she didn't realize that Midnight didn't come home until very very late that night.

_Danny's morning _

Danny had fallen asleep as soon as he walked into his room. It wasn't from exhaustion he almost had to force himself to sleep that way he wouldn't be able to answer Tucker's endless questions. He heard the phone ring 15 times but rolled over and let Tuck tell his mom, Jazz and Nicole that he was sleeping. That to Tucker's knowledge is exactly how it seemed.

Danny put his head up at 12:30 unable to force himself to sleep anymore. Tucker was in the kitchen just down the hall, Danny could see his hat from the bedroom. He rolled over putting the pillow on his face no longer wanting to leave his bed.

He shook his head trying to get the newly awakened feeling to leave him. His eyes crawled over to the window. He could have sworn there was a cat there last night. It wasn't his girlfriend's spoiled cat either, this one was all black with a motive to watch him. He laughed Vlad was sending cats to spy on him now.

He got up out of bed and pulled on some pants and a gray shirt. He went out into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal.

"Oh the prince is finally up. Dude, do you know how many calls have been made to this house because of you?" Tuck asked.

"Around 10?" Danny guessed pouring frosted flakes into a bowl.

"Try 15, between your mom, sister, girlfriend and father. What the hell did you do?" He asked nearly jumping out of the chair.

"Nothing, my family just have different……….opinions on what I'm doing with my life." Danny said.

"Yeah well their opinions wouldn't stop coming. I don't know what to do, no wonder you tried to stay out late last night." Tucker added putting his empty plate in the sink.

"Mhhmm." Danny replied with frosted flakes in his mouth.

"Well I'm gone. See you later." Tuck said. Danny nodded and Tuck left.

Danny looked around the room for an idea on what to do. The phone rang and he grudgingly picked it up.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Danny! How's my strong handsome boyfriend? Did you have a nice nap?" She asked in a gooey voice.

He smiled at her voice. "Yeah I guess you could say I needed it." He replied.

"Good well I want to go see a movie today and thought that you should come." She told him "I was thinking of going to see _My Super Ex-Girlfriend._"

"Oh, I kinda wanted to see _Superman Returns_." He said.

"Hmmm, well how about we see your movie today and then tomorrow we see my movie and you take me out to dinner." She said. Danny smiled.

"Sure. I'll pick you up in 10 minutes." He said.

"Yay! I can't wait, see you later honey." She said as she put the phone down. Danny ran a hand through his hair and put some shoes on. He felt melancholy for some reason. It was absurd because he had wanted to see this movie forever.

He wordlessly and gracefully locked the door behind him as he went out to his car. His thoughts preoccupied him as he drove to her house.

She was already waiting outside when he got there.

"Hi honey, I haven't seen you in forever!I miss you so much." She said as she giggled and got into the passenger seat. He gave her a weak smile and a kiss. As she buckled up he looked out the window staring off into a daydreamer state.

"O, now let's go." She said rather perky. He turned the key and off they went. She babbled and giggled endlesly as they drove, oblivious to Danny's out-of-sorts state.

They got to the cinema with time to spare. After a 3 minute concession stand visit, they were in the fifth row watching the previews. Danny knew he should have been excited, but he was hoping this movie would make him less depressed.

Did it ever.

He loved it. This new guy, Brandon, he sure knew his stuff. He was exactly the type of superhero Danny thought Superman should be. And it made Danny feel a lot better because as he left the theater he realized that _he is_ a superhero. It made him feel wanted.

Nicole on the other hand was extremely bored during the whole movie.

"I don't see the big deal, there really wasn't like a real threat and like we all knew that He would be ok, he wasn't going to die or anything." She argued as they walked to the car.

"But Kryptonite can kill him, he could have died." Danny said.

"But you knew he wasn't." Nicole answered.

"Well true but still he got hurt, and I loved it. It was funny and full of action and emotion. I think Bryan Singer did an excellent job."

"Hmm, it was ok. I mean Brandon Routh is sexy, but other than that it was just ok." She told him. Danny rolled his eyes and stepped on the pedal.

"Actually he reminds me of you. Tall with black hair, blue eyes, clutsy and yet romantic. And yet you two are oddly heroic, actual you and him are a lot alike. Leaving often, mysterious in your reason-" She started to say. Suddenly Danny kissed her. He had pulled over quickly and started kissing her more passionatly. A couple minutes later, when they needed air, Nicole forget about everything she had said before.

The two of them went back to Danny's apartment for some time alone (without Tucker or any other interruptions). The next morning both Danny and Sam had completely forgotten about school.

_The Next Day_

The alarm clock blared annoyingly as Sam opened her eyes. Oh right, work. She had forgotten she had to do that. She groaned as she pulled on her outfit. At least she could go do something she enjoyed. Her weekend was horrible, except for the whole play thing.

She went into the kitchen to be greeted by everyone. She gave a half smile and put her head in her hands. A feeling of self pitty seemed to follow her. Honestly she couldn't have been more of a loser, the best part of her week was work and she couldn't have been more pathetic. Visions of herself as the lonely crazy old cat lady ran through her head.

It wasn't that she _needed_ a guy. No she could do fine on her own, but it's just she wanted a strong pair of arms every once and a while and someone to talk to. Her friends all had the 24/7 jobs, and she had a 3 month vacation. She shook her head from her thoughts and walked out the door, she had children to teach.

Danny woke up -gasp- on time for once. Nicole was still sleeping sloundly next to him. He rolled over and kissed her on the forehead and got up for another fabulous day of teaching.

Dressed and ready he got up and closed the door gently behind him.

"Someone had a late night last night." Tucker said in a suggestive voice.

"AH!" Danny gave a surprised yelp. "Don't do that, you scared me half to death." He said.

"Sorry it just seemed that everything being all mysterious without any interruptions and ya know, you two-" Tucker started saying.

"Hey hey, stop right there. I need to go to work and you need to leave me alone." Danny said in a non offensive as he left.

"Ok, all I'm saying is, is that you and Nicole aren't strangers to the whole-" Tuck said. He was interrupted by Danny politely shutting the door while Tuck was talking.

Danny shook his head as he got into the car.

"Work, the only place I can feel normal. Let's see what they have in store for us today." He said as he pulled into the lot. Both him and Sam unlocked their doors simultaneously but at different sides of the portable.

Sam looked at her phone and figured her parents would be up. She speed dialed them and waited, now was the time to ask for money. Yes, someone picked up.

"Hi dad...I'm doing fine, you?...great I have something I want to ask you abou-...no you go first." Sam's said.

"Uh huh the stock went up! Really?...wow that's great. That's a lot of extra money...I was just wondering do you think you could help me support something?...It's a play dad, and I really want to and it seems like they could use not to mention all of the- you will? Oh that's great, thank you so much, you know I don't like asking for things...ok...bye." She hung up the phone quickly and sighed. She didn't like asking for money but it was a good chance to support something. She tried to stay away from the silver platter life, she wanted to work for a living, but her family could give back they should.

She made a mental note to call the theater people later on. Holly walked in with a smile.

"Hey! How was your Sunday?" She asked. Sam smiled and proceeded to tell her with great enthusiasm about the whole play situation.

"That's so cool, I joined the theater I didn't know you liked it" She said. Sam shrugged.

"It was a way for me to get stuff out." Sam replied. Holly nodded.

"It got me away from my family." Holly added. "But I think that's great, you have such a big heart." Sam blushed at the comment.

"Anyway youdo know I have an Italian lesson first period in here right?" Holly asked. Sam's face was emotionless.

"Uh.. yeah, of course I was just setting up because I felt like staying." She lied. Holly rolled her eyes as kids came in.

They sat down quietly and quickly and didn't breathe. Sam wondered what was wrong her home room was never like this, until Holly winked.

"You can talk I'm not as mean as they say." She said. They all breathed and starting talking. Sam gave her a "what the hell?" type of look.

"I got a reputation, I didn't want it, but by the 4th class they realize exactly what it is, gossip, and I don't follow through with it." She replied

The rest of the UA's went off without a hitch and it wasn't until Danny's second class things went wrong.

"Ok, now today is everyone's fav, the Aztecs, Miyas and Incas." He said. The class groaned.

"We all rady learned about that!" Richard shouted.

"We know everything!" Emily said. By now fits of protest had already begun. Danny put a hand up.

"Hey whoa, hold it!"He yelled. They focused on him. "Now you've already done this I know, but it's curriculum."He said. They all groaned again. Danny looked at the notes in his hand and looked at the overhead. All the times he had hated it when his teachers did this to him came back. Then an idea struck him

"I'll tell you what. I'll make a quiz, 25 questions on this chapter. Everyone has to get a 96 or above and if they do, we won't do it, but if one person doesn't then we have to learn it." He said.

The kids were quiet for a second.

"Can we use a book?" One kid asked.

"No. No books, no old notes, no cheating just memory. If everyone gets higher I'll take it as a grade, if not, I won't count it." He said.

"Deal." The whole class chorused.

"Good Danny replied. Now write a journal entry on your favorite American hero as I make this quiz. 10 minutes later a student was off to the copy machine with a newly made quiz. Danny was leaning in his chair when his ghost sense went off. He looked around and surveyed everything, nothing. The he felt something jab into his back.

It was the feel of cold hard, cylindrical metal. He didn't even have to look to know it was a gun.

"Let's talk outside." A voice whispered in his ear. He calmly got up and walked outside as the ghost moved the gun to his temple so the children would not see.

"I'll be right back kids, inside voices please." Danny said. Once outside the ghost led him to an area that faced no other bulidings and shielded them from view. Skulker appeared.

"I have a message for you from a friend." Skulker said.

"Great, now your a messenger boy. Really a step up from "Greatest Hunter" Skulker." Danny said.

"You are in no position to talk! I see you haven't lost your attitude in the last few years. Very well here is the message." Skulker said retaining his cool.

He gave Danny a little red rectangle about the size of an i-pod. It fizzled to life.

"Hello _Daniel_. I see you've gotten this. Good. Listen and listen closely. I am in the need of business and require something. I'm telling you now DO NOT GET IN MY WAY. I'm giving you options, ignore me, join me or the ever herioc stop me. You may think this is stupid me telling you I'm up to something but in reality it isn't, no it's quite genius. Give me your answer in the next 24 hours or I will come and get it out of you. Be warned you cannot hide behind children. I will get rid of them as easily as you, so if I were you I'd make up my mind. Skulker will give you a little black box record your answer by pressing the green button. Once you have done so press the red button and throw it in the air. This message is deteriorating as I speak. Goodbye.

Danny looked up from the little red device that was smoking in his hands. A tiny black box the size of a liter was at his feet and skulker was gone. He looked at the sky and mix feelings went through him. Other than being gunned down at his work with children present, getting an extremely suspicious message from Vlad Masters whom Danny thought had forgotten about him and having tons of emotional issues about the woman he wants to marry he was oddly ok. He picked up the black box and studied it. After all this he walked back to the classroom with one realization, he was left with one very big problem that ironically came in a very small harmless looking package.

He laughed at that thought. Since when had anything he encountered been harmless? It was his life and his gut was telling him there was more to it than meets the eye.


	7. Decision

Hey guys It's been a really long time but, I realized that I miss writing for everyone sooo here's the next chapter

**Hey guys It's been a really long time but, I realized that I miss writing for everyone sooo here's the next chapter! I swear my writing skills have improved. It will get better I promise. Forgive me if the spacing is weird.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or anything famous in here.**

Danny walked back into his classroom, the box sitting safely in his pocket.

"Ok. I'm back and your quizzes are ready. If someone would like to pass them out, you can get started."

Danny tossed the little black box around as one of his students passed out the quizzes.

"_Ignore me, join me or the ever heroic stop me."_ The words swirled in his brain. "_Be warned you cannot hide behind children. I will get rid of them as easily as if they were you_" 

He looked around the classroom; everyone was trying earnestly to remember what they had learned. Danny sighed. Joining Vlad was out of the question, and if he ignored him, things would only get worse. The only option left was to stop him, but somehow Danny had a feeling that life would become a hell of a lot more complicated. 

He flinched as he felt a hand on his shoulder. A part of him hoped it was Sam's and the other part was mentally slapping himself for thinking that way. He met Holly's eyes and blinked in confusion.

"You ok?" she asked. "You look kinda pale and the kids said you were outside."

"Hmmmm, oh yea….I just needed some fresh air. I've been feeling a tad queasy."

"Ok, as long as you're sure." She put a hand on his arm to comfort him. Danny gave a small ow as her hand touched his shirt. Flashes of him fighting someone, Nicole's cat, a wedding and something else went through his mind.

Seeing her comfort was doing no good Holly left the room. Danny shook his head to wake himself. His next class would be here in 3 minutes.

"Heads up guys, you got 3 minutes." He said. Class ended and his next set of students walked in. 

"Hold on a second guys I'll be right back." He left the portable and took out the little black box. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye but didn't worry about it. 

"No way am I letting you get away with this. You can expect a fight from me you crazy old codger." He smiled as he let go of the button and threw the little box as far as he could.

Upon his returning into the classroom he overheard one of his students.

"What was that Amanda?" He asked.

She blushed. "Nothing Mr. Fenton, I was just saying how the teachers like to leave the classroom, last class Ms. Williams left randomly and after you went outside just now, she walked out."

"Really?" He thought. He filed that little fact away in the back of his brain and finished teaching.

At lunch Sam overheard Danny talking about his plans to marry Nicole. The look on poor Sam's face nearly broke every female teacher's hearts. After lunch Sam decided to leave early since she had no classes to teach. 

When the bell had rung and Holly would normally not have minded staying after to help some of her students, but today she was too anxious to get a hold of Sam. To make matters even worse Danny asked her to watch the kids he was teaching after school too, so she had a full class of kids, half of which were bored out of their minds because they didn't take Italian.

She was in the middle of teaching when someone came barging in.

"Have you seen Danny? He said he teaches here." She asked. She looked at her fingernails and put her hands on her hip as if to say hurry-up-I can't-be-bothered-with-you.

"Oh uh, he said he'd be back in like 5 minutes." Holly replied. The woman made an angry hmph and sat down in Sam's chair. Even though Sam wasn't there it was still rather rude of her.

She started teaching again when the loud obnoxious sound of Nelly Futado started blasting from the woman's Ipod. 

"Do you think you could put that away? I have students in need of help." Holly said. 

She popped the headphones out. "Huh? I couldn't hear you."

"Do you think you could put that away? There are students trying to learn."

"Oh well jeez excuse me." She put it down and started playing with her cell phone. The continuous beeps and clicks were driving Holly crazy.

"Ms. Williams…are you ok?" one of her students asked.

"I'll be fine just as soon as-

Thankfully Danny walked in. Nicole jumped over to him and kissed him. Danny kissed back but turned red and lightly pushed her off.

Holly twitched a little when she realized that thing is what Danny was dating.

"Hun, when are we getting out of here? It's boring and _some_ people can't appreciate good music." 

"I have to finish up, but we'll be out of here in a half hour." He promised. 

Danny students filed out of Sam's room but Nicole unfortunately did not. Danny had asked her to stay in Sam's room so he could teach. Holly did her best to control herself.

By the time she got home Holly was happy she hadn't committed murder.

**Ok guys there you are and…….there's so many plot twists its gonna be crazy! I'll put another chapter up in like 2 days.**


	8. Developments

Hi again everyone

**Hi again everyone! Ok here you go the next chapter. Oh and a big THANK YOU!! To all my reviewers you guys are so darn sweet!! You made me so happy and to everyone who favorited or alerted my story or me, you guys rock. Hi fives You really are just awesome and don't let people tell you otherwise.**

Holly walked into her apartment infuriated by the day's events. She put her stuff away and soon began pacing the house hoping that she could find something within reach that would help her calm down so she could talk to Sam without scaring her.

Meanwhile Danny Phantom was flying towards downtown to fix a little issue he had heard on the news. Apparently there were reports of levitating cars and other paranormal events, so he expected to see a ghost of some sort causing havoc and chaos. No big deal, he'd been down that road before.

Instead he saw a woman with odd colored skin and a huge attitude problem. Seriously, she oozed the words brat, snob and spoiled with every step.

Danny blinked; he was surprised to say the least.

"You know, I may be wrong but I'm almost positive cars belong on the street."

She turned to look at him as she dangled a car over a tree with a thorn covered vine.

"Cute. Who are you? I haven't seen a handsome face like yours around here." She said with sarcasm. Her attitude was very reminiscent of Ms. Spectra.

Danny iced her feet to the ground and smiled. "I'm new around here, my original job was to rid the world of ghosts but you're proving to be just as much of a nuisance."

She laughed and melted the ice. "Listen kid, I don't know who you think you are." She looked straight at him and moved her hands causing him to be blown against a building.

"But I suggest you take that cocky attitude back to wherever you came from. I'm not someone to be taken lightly."

He rubbed his head and flew back. She didn't give him the chance to breathe before she kicked him in the stomach and threw him onto the cement. His whole body hurt from the pain.

He heard a pair of high heeled boots clicking near him. He turned and looked up. Not only was she staring at him, but quite a few news choppers were taking footage. Little did Danny know the entire city was tuning in.

"Listen up! I get what I want and right now I want you out of the picture. I'm not normally a trouble causer but you just may have pushed the right buttons." She said with a scary intensity. With those final words she put a hand on his chest and drained him of a good portion of his energy.

Weak and shaky, Danny wasn't able to move fast enough from throwing him into the windows of the mall. Lying on the carpet of the mall with glass everywhere, he changed back into Danny Fenton to the surprise and shock of 10 fleeing citizens, one of them being Nicole.

Wearily he lifted himself and met the cold gaze of his girlfriend.

**A/N: HA! I'll bet you thought Nicole was the one attacking Danny! ) Lol just kidding. I hope I surprised you though, I know I love being surprised in fics. Ok anyway…..**

**At Danny's Apartment**

"It's not like I wanted to keep it a secret from you!" Danny shouted from the bedroom.

"Then why did you!?"

"Because I wasn't sure how you'd take it."

"How do you think I'd take it!!" She screeched. She threw a pillow at his head and stormed around the room.

"Look hun-

"Don't you "hun" me. You've kept this from me! And it changes everything! I can't trust you!" She yelled. Now Danny was getting angry.

"Why? If the whole city can trust me why can't you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Wrong. The entire city trusts Danny Phantom. I wonder if they'd feel so confident in Danny Fenton."

Ouch. Danny felt that one. "See this is exactly why I didn't tell you. You wouldn't know how to handle it."

Nicole walked over to him and poked him in the chest. "And when exactly did you plan to tell me?"

He sighed angrily. "I was going to tell you on Friday."

She blinked. "Friday?"

"I needed to know if you'd accept me, all of me. I love you and I wanted you to know everything so we could spend forever together." He took the ring box out of his pocket and showed her. Her eyes lit up and started to water.

"Oh Danny, of course I want to marry you!" She said. She hugged him and smiled. "But first and you have to answer truthfully or this lie will weight on you for the rest of your life, I have a question for you. If you had to save me or a save one hundred people, what would you choose?"

Danny flinched. "I don't want to think about that."

"Yeah well, one day you might have to. And if it does happen you probably won't get the option I'm giving you."

Danny bit his lip. Judging by the look on her face "both" was not an answer he could give her. The silence lasted for 15 seconds but it was all that Nicole needed. She kissed his cheek.

"Goodbye Danny." She walked out the front door, her cat hopped off the arm of the couch and bounded after her. That was the last time she set foot in that apartment.

**Later That Night…**

Vlad sat in a huge armchair, his hands clasped and a twisted smile plastered on his face.

"You've done excellent work my dear. And to think we only needed a little white cat to help us get everything we need."

"Umm well sir there's one other thing…they actually umm broke up because of the ummmm fight." His hired hand replied.

The evil smile that was once perched on his face twisted into anger, but he calmly put a hand up and shook his head.

"It's alright….I lost my most amazing spy but…it doesn't provide too much of a hindrance. You may go."

**Much Later That Night…**

Holly walked around the house with the phone to her ear, trying to lure Sam out of a curve of depression.

Danny was lying on his bed music in his ears trying to decipher what happened, and what he was going to do.

All 3 new it was going to be a long long night.


End file.
